Excellent Team Selection From Lennon Tonight. A Debut And Some Key Players Rested.

This is team management 101.

This is how to juggle the demands of a long season when you have a big squad.

Lennon has made eight changes to the team who won at the weekend, and one of our young signings from the summer window – Jeremie Frimpong – gets a start.

This is partially forced on us, of course, because we’ve had some injury scares. Abd Elhamed plays in central defence tonight alongside Ajer. But it’s the midfield that is all change; Ntcham, McGregor; Morgan, Rogic and Elyounoussi all play. Bayo is upfront.

I would have welcomed seeing Callum rested too, but whilst Bitton is out we’re a little limited in what we can do in that area of the pitch. It makes the case for adding a central midfielder in January, so that we can give Callum some much needed time out.

Forrest gets that tonight, and must be welcoming it.

There’s a change to the goalkeeping slot as well; Gordon starts in place of big Forster. Sinclair returns to the subs bench with Forrest, Edouard and Brown.

Here’s the real surprise; Jack Hendry is listed amongst the subs. I would have said he was never going to appear in the Hoops again. Tonight will probably prove me wrong on that. I fancy that we’ll see him before the full time whistle.

Even with the changes this is a strong, strong Celtic side. We have real footballers in there.

It is a fine squad where you can bring in a footballer like Ntcham and another like Tom Rogic and think that they might not have started on another day.

This is an important match tonight.

Let no-one doubt its significance. The League Cup has been a problem child competition for us down through the years, but you need it to secure a treble and I reckon it’s become hugely significant in recent times; the fact that you can have the first domestic trophy won by the turn of the year is huge.

And it would set up nicely for the Quadruple Treble … something that would have sounded ludicrous not that long ago becomes more likely with every one of these we win.

Onwards to victory, Celtic.

CELTIC: Gordon; Frimpong, Elhamed, Ajer, Hayes: Ntcham, McGregor; Morgan, Rogic, Elyounoussi; Bayo