Ange Postecoglou has rang the changes as Celtic get their Scottish Cup journey up and running.
The Hoops lifted the Scottish Premiership and League Cup last season and are sitting top of the table once again and are in the final of the other domestic competition this campaign. This tournament is one they will be desperate to lift and hopes of a potential Treble begin in the shape of second tier outfit Greenock Morton.
History is on the side of the Championship side with boss Dougie Imrie the goalscorer in a famous upset in the cup at Parkhead ten years ago. It would arguably be an even bigger achievement to do similar damage today in front of an expecting home support. Postecoglou and his troops have only tasted defeat once this season in Scotland with that loss coming in Paisley against St Mirren. Speaking ahead of facing Morton, the Celtic boss said: “Tomorrow is an opportunity to win a game of football, that’s what we’re going to try to do and I’ll pick a team that does that. We haven’t gone into any game, I don’t think really unchanged from the week before anyway.
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"Game-time is earned, not given and the beauty of it for me is that everyone who’s getting an opportunity at the moment is taking it and has done really well. So the selection tomorrow will be based around one thing, and that is we want to progress in the cup and we will put a line-up out there that we believe will do that.
“In cup competitions in general, even though you may play the same opposition, with us playing Kilmarnock in the league and the cup, there’s always a bit of an edge in cup games. You know that the result is everything, obviously you want to perform well and you want to play your football that has got you to that stage. Ultimately cup football is about the result, that’s all that matters at the end.
“So by the time they come around, you realise it’s going to be a different experience, a different environment and irrespective of your opponents, that’s the first thing. And I think the players, they realise that there’s always a different edge to game where you know the consequences are a lot more stark than a league game, so we’re looking forward to it, particularly at home.
“We haven’t had too many home cup fixtures since I’ve been here, so it’s good to have one at home where we can hopefully put on a strong performance.”
Celtic XI: Hart, Johnston, Starfelt, Kobayashi, Bernabei, McGregor, Mooy, Turnbull, Abada, Maeda, Kyogo
Subs: Bain, Haksabanovic, Jota, Iwata, O'Riley, Hatate, Forrest, Lawal, Welsh
Morton XI: Schwake, Strapp, Baird, Blues, Muirhead, Quitongo, Miller, Ambrose, Crawford, Gillespie, Grimshaw
Subs: Green, Pignatiello, O'Connor, Roy, McGrattan, Garrity, King, Lithgow
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