OPINION
Neil Lennon must axe Oliver Burke and hand Karamoko Dembele his first ever senior appearance if he wants to name his best possible Celtic line-up to take on Hearts at Parkhead on Sunday.
£30,000-a-week Burke [Spotrac] has been in woeful form lately and had next to no impact on the match when the Hoops lost 2-0 to Rangers last week, so he needs to be dropped from the side and replaced by highly-rated teenager Dembele.
Anthony Ralston should also come into the side for a rare appearance after Mikael Lustig suffered an injury at Ibrox last Sunday.
Jeremy Toljan could replace Lustig but as this is the final Scottish Premiership match of the season it would be best to leave the loan players out and let some of the club’s younger players prove themselves.
Scott Bain should start in goals with Ralston, Jozo Simunovic, Kristoffer Ajer and Jonny Hayes starting in the back-four.
Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham should start in the deeper-lying central midfield roles.
Dembele, 16, should start on the right wing with Tom Rogic in the No 10 role and Callum McGregor on the left.
Up front, Odsonne Edouard is a no-brainer to start against Hearts.
Celtic need to bounce back from their defeat to Rangers and they need to do that this weekend otherwise they could go into the Scottish Cup final against Hearts low on confidence.
However annihilating Craig Levein’s men before meeting them again next week would be perfect for the Hoops as they aim to wrap up a third domestic treble in a row.