OPINION
Brendan Rodgers must make a host of changes to his starting line-up if he wants to name his best possible Celtic side to take on Motherwell at Parkhead on Wednesday night.
The 2-0 defeat at Hibernian over the weekend proved that Rodgers has no choice but to axe a number of players, so Jozo Simunovic, Emilio Izaguirre, Olivier Ntcham and Scott Sinclair should all miss the upcoming Scottish Premiership action.
Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney will likely be fit enough to return in the full-back slots so Simunovic and Izaguirre can return to the bench, but shoddy displays at Easter Road by Ntcham and £25,000-a-week (The Sun) liability Sinclair means that they need to be dropped for performance-related issues and replaced by Youssouf Muklumbu and fringe player Mikey Johnston.
Craig Gordon should remain in goals with a back-four of Lustig, Ajer, Filip Benkovic and Kieran Tierney ahead of him. There should be enough quality there to stop Motherwell from even scoring a goal, let alone preventing the Hoops from winning.
Scott Brown must be partnered by Mulumbu in the midfield after Ntcham’s shocker against Hibernian. It was the latest in a long-line of sub-par displays by Ntcham, and it is about time that ex-West Brom star Mulumbu is handed a chance to replace him.
James Forrest and Callum McGregor are no-brainers to start in the attacking midfield areas but Johnston, who has only made five league appearances this season, should start on the left instead of Sinclair after a positive impact when he came off the bench at Hibs on Sunday.
Odsonne Edouard has been in poor form lately but there is no option to replace him due to Leigh Griffiths’ leave of absence, so unfortunately, Rodgers is stuck with the misfiring Frenchman for now.
Celtic should be able to destroy Motherwell and get back to winning ways with this side.
If Hibs are able to pull off another good result on Wednesday when they take on Rangers at Easter Road, then the Hoops could go back of the league table with a win over Stephen Robinson’s side.