OPINION
After watching Celtic struggle to break down a dogged FK Sudavka side on Thursday evening, Brendan Rodgers needs to find a way to instil some confidence and fire back into his players – which is why he needs to go all out attack against Hamilton on Sunday.
The Hoops return to league action at Parkhead after their Europa League qualifier – which ended 1-1 in the first leg – and are hoping to get back on track after losing to Hearts in their last Premiership encounter.
However, injury difficulties at the back mean Rodgers is struggling to find enough defenders to fill in, and as such a novel formation might have to be adopted to blow the visitors away and get Celtic back firing on all cylinders.
As such, the boss needs to make six changes to his side, with Scott Bain, Mikael Lustic, Emilio Izaguirre, Tom Rogic, Scott Sinclair and Leigh Griffiths replacing the dropped Craig Gordon, Jozo Simunovic, Christian Gamboa, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and Mikey Johnston in a 3-5-2 formation.
Gordon was always set to be replaced by Bain as the pair rotated but after being caught culpable for conceding against Suduva, his axing is a must, while in front of the sticks, a defensive trio is the only way for Rodgers to avoid shoehorning someone into an unfamiliar role while resting bodies for the second leg of the European tie.
Up front the manager needs to get Moussa Dembele and Griffiths netting constantly and pairing them up should give them the support needed to thrive.
They should be joined by James Forrest and Sinclair on the flanks, both a potent threat on their day, while Tom Rogic should be the attacking foil to the defence minded Scott Brown and Oliver Ntcham.
Together, this side is a formidable threat, and one which should blow Hamilton away in the build up to the main focus of the next seven days – the Europa League qualifier at Celtic Park.