OPINION
After progressing in the Scottish Cup and keeping their lead in the Premiership title race, Celtic return to European action on Thursday night when Parkhead plays host to Valencia – and much of the pre-game amble is about who might be starting against the Spaniards.
The Hoops could not have had a better result to come off the back of, thrashing St Johnstone 5-0 in the cup to give them a huge confidence boost ahead of what could be one of the biggest games of their season.
It was a strong side who sank the Saints and many of those starting on Sunday can expect to keep their places in the team for Thursday’s clash – a fair decision from Brendan Rodgers considering how comfortable his men looked for the 90 minutes.
However, it appears as though Jonny Hayes could well be facing the axe in the line up, having played as a makeshift right back against St Johnstone, with the Scottish Sun claiming that the manager could well be tempted at handing Kieran Tierney a shock start despite having been out of action since December.
To throw him back into the starting XI without any minutes off the bench would not only be a huge gamble but an injustice on Hayes, who performed better than Emilio Izaguirre had done before his injury setback.
At 31-years-old the Republic of Ireland international has the experience and quality to do a confident job in his new role and the prospect of being binned for Tierney should have him fuming.
Rodgers needs to realise that Hayes is more than capable of keeping a weakened Valencia side at bay – and while Tierney will take his place in the team back at some point, it is not the time to do so.