The boss has a big choice to make; which of Celtic’s exceptional three wide men sits on the bench.

By the time you read this, we’ll likely know the lineup for tonight. I don’t plan on publishing this until around 6:30, which means the publication of the line-up will be very close. But I’m going to stand by every word I say, even if the starting eleven turns out to be vastly different from the one I have in my head right now—even if the front three is entirely changed from what I’m expecting.

We are in a very fortunate position here.

We’d be in an even better one if we’d brought in another striker, but we’re still in a strong spot because the manager did his homework in the January window, identifying exactly what we needed to give the squad more balance. The addition of an attacking wide player have made the last couple of matches very enjoyable, giving us the luxury of rotating between a handful of top-class players.

There’s been a lot of debate about what happens tonight now that Daizen is available—a little unexpected bonus that none of us saw coming.

For me, the front three doesn’t change that much. The only reason it might is if the manager leaves Maeda on the bench, having never expected to be able to play him and, as he put it, having run him into the ground at the weekend in anticipation of giving him a full week to recover. But if he goes with the usual front three of Maeda, Kühn, and Idah, I won’t be remotely surprised. In fact, I’ll be pleased, because I think they are, by and large, our strongest attacking trio right now.

To me, this is a classic case of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Idah has hit form, so you play him—he’s an obvious first pick. If we had a second striker, there might be a debate, depending on who that striker was, but we don’t.

I don’t see us playing Jota wide left, Kühn wide right, and Maeda through the middle, even though some have suggested it. The manager might consider that if he thinks Daizen’s pace and aggression give us an edge, but he’ll also be thinking about the bench and how he can impact the game later on.

Jota is a great player to be able to bring on, but then so is Idah, and so is Nicolas Kühn. This is where I find myself smiling—looking at the range of options available to the manager. The lack of a second striker skews things slightly because you always have to consider what happens if Idah or Maeda picks up an injury, which would change the equation entirely.

But by and large, tonight is a good opportunity.

I think you leave one of the three wide players on the bench, and Jota is the least up to speed, although Maeda is the most recent to have played a full 90 minutes.

There’s a possibility the manager might want to start Maeda through the middle for 60 minutes, giving him a run-out in the team, before bringing on the big guy. I think the opposition defence will be tested most by a combination of Idah, Maeda, and Kühn—that’s where our strengths lie.

Too many people seem to think Jota has been signed as a guaranteed starter. I don’t believe he has. In fact, I don’t believe there are any guaranteed starters in this team, though Maeda must be close to the first name on the team sheet. This is the kind of selection headache any Celtic manager would want.

What’s more, if we had another striker—someone proven at this level—we’d be very close to having a complete squad to take into next season with confidence. With Tierney arriving in the summer, we’ll still need a backup for him at left-back, and I’d argue another centre-back wouldn’t go amiss. A striker is an absolute must.

But with those additions, I’d have to say we’d be stronger than we have been since the O’Neill team and its wealth of options. With another striker and centre-back, the overall balance of this squad would be nearly complete, and I’d have no fears about Champions League qualifiers next season, no matter who we were drawn against.

With Jota in the squad, the strength of this side is such that we only need tweaks—just a couple of mission-critical signings. Once that’s done, I can see us sticking with the core of this team for the bulk of the next campaign—unless Rodgers decides to make a dramatic tactical pivot, which, knowing him, we can’t entirely rule out.

But as I said, if it ain’t broke, you don’t fix it. And that’s why I think our best front three—Maeda, Idah, and Kühn—should start tonight, leaving the Portuguese boy wonder on the bench. The only thing that makes me wonder if Maeda might be left out instead is that he could then be brought on later, either out wide if a winger comes off or through the middle if Idah is subbed. That might be something in the manager’s thinking.

One way or another, by the time you read this, we’ll probably know. And with the game now just hours away, I’m excited to see how we perform. This is a big one. It’s going to be a beauty. And with Maeda available, I feel a lot more confident than I would have without him—not just because of what he brings to the team, but because of the additional options he gives the manager.

That might just be the critical factor in whether or not we get a result here.

Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

The other night we put up our latest podcast. Recorded just after the Ibrox club went crashing out of the cup, we called it They’re Simply Depressed.