BACK TO THE GRIND

After our mini winter break, it’s back to SPL football as Hearts come to Celtic, in the first of three games in eight days.

The team will have a look slightly different look to it, as first choice centre-halves Kelvin Wilson and Efe Ambrose are both out, and you would think that Charlie Mulgrew and Thomas Rogne – who once upon a time did look like a promising partnership – will take their places.  In midfield James Forrest is still out so the burden of creativity will fall on Kris Commons, Scott Brown will be back as well after missing the win versus Motherwell.

Up-front, Gary Hooper will start, but the big news involving him is that Norwich have had a £5 million bid turned down, with Neil Lennon expressing his disappointment that the story had been leaked to the press.  There will be more on this situation on the blog over the weekend.  The returning Anthony Stokes will be on the bench I imagine.

The game has seemingly come too early for new signings Rami Gershon and Tom Rogic, but it will be interesting to see if they can cement places in the first team, particularly Rogic, who has signed a long-term contract, which makes me think he’ll be more than a ‘project’ and could be the creative midfielder that Celtic have been crying out for.

In our previous two fixtures against Hearts this season, we had a rather dull 1-0 win at Parkhead and an emphatic 4-0 win at Tynecastle.  However, tomorrow will undoubtedly be a tough game, especially as our first choice centre-halves.  Let’s hope Celtic hit the ground running in this important period of the season.