VILJAMI SINISALO is standing by to make his Premiership debut for Celtic against Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday afternoon.
The Finnish keeper, a £1million recruit from Aston Villa in the summer, has made only one previous appearance for the Hoops since his arrival in the routine 5-0 Scottish Cup win over second-tier Raith Rovers in the east end of Glasgow last month.
Sinisalo’s progress to the top side has been accelerated with injury fears over Kasper Schmeichel following the 38-year-old netminder’s shoulder injury in Denmark’s 5-3 aggregate loss in the UEFA Nations League play-off encounter against Portugal in Lisbon on Sunday evening.
That has opened the door for the three times-capped shotstopper at the stage of the campaign many observers claim is “the business end of the season.”
WELCOME TO CELTIC…Viljami Sinisalo after signing his five-year deal in July 2024.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are 10 games away from a world record ninth treble and they may have to accept embarking upon the quest without the services of one of their pivotal performers.
Absolutely no disrespect to 23-year-old Sinisalo, who is under contract at the champions until June 30 2029, but Celtic would be better equipped for the challenges ahead with the legendary Schmeichel guarding their interests as the last line of a defence that has looked alarmingly porous since the turn of the year.
Villa have scored four, Rangers have claimed three on two occasions and Dundee have also tucked a trio of efforts into the Hoops’ net to emphasise all is not quite as it should be in the champions’ rearguard.
Sinisalo is poised to come into a defence that has utilised SIX centre-backs this term – Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales, Maik Nawrocki, Dane Murray and Stephen Welsh, now on loan at Belgian outfit KV Mechelen since his January switch.
What do we know about the young Finn? Clearly, the spotlight fell on Daizen Maeda in the custodian’s only game against the Kirkcaldy side when the Japanese ace thumped in a hat-trick to take his Hoops’ goal haul to an impressive half-century since joining in January 2022.
DEBUT BHOY…Vilijami Sinisalo in his solitary appearance in Celtic’s 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers at Parkhead last month.
I can recall only one save from Sinisalo that Saturday evening and it arrived at a crucial stage of the confrontation. The trophy holders were leading 1-0 by the time the Fifers carved out their best opportunity in the 25th minute.
Josh Mullins was sent clean through and the striker appeared spoiled for choice as he had a clear sight of goal. He could have gone for power, high or low, but he elected for the deft chip and the keeper shovelled the ball past his left-hand post.
To most, it looked a decent save, but, wearing a critical head, I reckoned it was an easy catch for Sinisalo. He was caught on his heels, a huge no-no for any budding No.1, and looked almost relieved to claw the ball for a corner-kick.
The effort may have gone wide in any case, but cutting the debutant some slack, he had to make sure.
There were two other moments of concern in the first-half. Lewis Stevenson, now 37 and playing for his hometown club after 19 years at Hibs, took two corner-kicks from the right.
The naturally left-footed defender may not be as swift over the ground as he was in his heyday at Easter Road, but he still has an eye for a dangerous inswinging cross and he tested the Hoops back lot on two swift occasions.
Both times, Sinisalo struggled to take charge of the situation as the ball was whipped down on top of him. Celtic survived as the deadball efforts were bundled to safety and the incidents passed without mention.
I suspect, though, the lack of authority displayed by the netminder on both instances would not have been missed by goalkeeping guru Stevie Woods. I sincerely hope not, anyway.
It was dear old Tommy Docherty, the garrulous Glaswegian who managed Scotland and Manchester United among a parade of clubs, who once took note of the opposition goalie and said: “He’s known as Dracula because of his fear of the cross.”
It looks as though we are about to discover a little more of the qualities of Schmeichel’s stand-in.
Dracula? Or dream deputy?
We’ll find out soon enough.
ALEX GORDON
