Sunday is not worth risking one more Celtic injury before the Hampden final.

The game at the weekend has generated a lot of discussion and debate from people on both sides of the argument as to how important it is.

One side is never going to convince the other, and I’m not arguing with those who do put an enormous amount of significance on this match. Let me repeat again—I have not said that the game is insignificant. I have not said that it’s not important. I have not said that I don’t want to win it.

I just completely disagree with anyone who suggests that if we lose, it will necessitate a re-evaluation of the season.

It will not change the fact that we are champions and that we’ve won the League Cup. It will not change the fact that we deserve to be champions, and that we are the biggest club in this country. It will not change any of the objective facts.

It will simply give certain people an excuse to bitch and moan about the season when they haven’t been able to. And it will give others an excuse to cast doubt on whether or not we are deserved champions. Those people are our enemies anyway.

Today, of course, we found out that Jota is going to be out for many months. That’s shocking. It’s a big blow, and there’s no doubt about that.

I’ve tried to be as upbeat about it as I can by pointing out that we have plenty of time to fix the problem before the new season starts, by going out and bringing in an adequate replacement. Whether that’s on loan or on a permanent deal, we certainly have the money to do either—or even both.

But there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a sickener.

But Jota’s injury, and the news that we’re going to leave Alistair Johnston out of the game because Rodgers wants him fit for the final, does beg a very big question; to that section of our support who want to win this game at all costs—think about the terminology there. And about how much you really want the win.

Because “at all costs”? I would say no. I would say, in fact, that even the cost of one more injury—risking someone for the cup final—is an unacceptable level of risk. That’s why I believe the manager is 100% right to leave AJ out of the team.

Now we all know that any player can get an injury in any game. That’s just football. It’s a fact of football life. And that’s why, as I said in the earlier piece, the first response to hearing the Jota news is anger.

But anger at who? Who are you going to take it out on? There’s no one to blame. It’s just one of those things. It’s football. It’s the nature of the business.

But knowing that any player can get injured in any game—simply through bad luck or a bad tackle or whatever else—that’s one thing. Taking a risk with a player who is not 100% fit, risking a pre-existing injury getting worse? That’s when the cost-benefit analysis starts to shift and tilt in the opposite direction.

The important game here is the cup final.

That’s so clear and obvious that it shouldn’t need repeating. But I find myself, more and more in these last few days, having to say it. That is the only game that matters as we head towards the end of the season.

The other issues are decided. We’re champions. We’re League Cup winners. The Scottish Cup Final is the be-all and end-all. It completes the treble. And that makes history. And nothing is worth jeopardising that outcome. No unnecessary risk, however minor, is worth taking.

Phantom bragging rights are not worth it. Settling a score is not worth it. Inflicting a mortal blow on a manager who’s already mortally wounded is not worth it. A couple of days of headlines? Not worth it.

That’s why not only do I agree with the manager that AJ shouldn’t play, but I don’t think Nicolas Kühn should play either. He’s carrying a knock. He’s not 100% fit, and I would be loath to take a chance with him.

Yes, I can look at the team sheet and recognise that this harms our chances of getting something from the game.

Because Jota’s not going to be there, so we’re already weak on the flanks, and we’re already now resigned to having Maeda play wide left. If we also lose Kühn wide right, then our most potent three-pronged attack—Jota, Maeda and Kyogo—are all either out of the team or out of position for the team.

Now, I don’t regard moving Maeda from the centre to the left as a disaster, because he’s played wide left most of the season and has been our best player. But the qualities he has shown through the middle are too good to ignore.

And that’s lost to us already because Jota isn’t there.

So, we’re forced to change, and we’re forced to gamble anyway. But I don’t think playing Idah through the middle is that big a gamble. I’d have played him through the middle in this game even if Jota had been fit.

To lose Kühn as well? That really would be hard.

That really would be a major weakness in the side.

But if he’s not 100% fit, I wouldn’t risk him. I’d drop him to the bench or maybe out of the squad entirely. Because he’s a player you want fit at Hampden. He’s a player you want on that pitch, fully ready to go. And Rodgers already has one eye on that, as leaving AJ out makes perfectly clear.

So there’s literally nothing about the team sheet on Sunday that will surprise me. If he plays, he plays—and the manager must believe that the risk is worth the reward. If he doesn’t play, I’ll have no problem with it at all. And one of the reasons I’ll have no problem with it is that I have a very relaxed attitude towards Sunday’s game, and don’t feel it to be of particular significance.

I’ll be perfectly honest: I expect to win, no matter what the team.

Ferguson has milked all he can out of using Clement’s tactics and Clement’s team. They’re rank rotten. They’re worse than they were under the Belgian, and I thought that was impossible. And finally, in the last three games, we’ve looked more like ourselves—and we’re ready to go.

Let me repeat again—and hopefully for the last time before the game kicks off—I want to win. Because I don’t want us to go three games without beating one team. I certainly don’t want three defeats in a row against one team.

But if someone offered me two conflicting scenarios—a comfortable win, and Nicolas Kühn out for the final or a narrow defeat and all of our players come home in one piece—I don’t even have to tell you which one I’ll opt for.

One game matters this season. And it’s not the one at Ibrox on Sunday.

It’s the one at Hampden, on the 24th.