Celtic continue their pursuit of the Scottish Premiership trophy this weekend when Stephen Robinson’s St Mirren travel to Parkhead.
Last time out, the Bhoys were involved in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Ibrox against Rangers, keeping their title hopes intact despite having no away supporters permitted to attend.
Daizen Maeda, Matt O’Riley and Adam Idah came up trumps for Brendan Rodgers on the goalscoring front; nevertheless, a stoppage-time equaliser from Rabbi Matondo denied the Irishman three points.
Despite this, due to news of Rangers’ postponed match away to Dundee last night, Celtic now have a chance to move four points clear if they can see off St Mirren.
Robinson’s visitors arrive in Glasgow off the back of just one victory in their last five matches across all competitions; regardless, they have already secured a top-six finish and will be keen to enhance their continental qualification prospects.
Ahead of our home clash against the Buddies, 67 Hail Hail take a look at three men who have made a case for Rodgers to include them in the starting line-up come Saturday afternoon.
The case for Maik Nawrocki to start for Celtic vs St Mirren
Unfortunately, Celtic defender Maik Nawrocki has struggled to nail down a place since completing a £5 million move to Parkhead from Legia Warsaw last summer.
Injury problems have been his main downfall, leading to the Poland Under-21 international appearing on just ten occasions for the reigning Scottish Premiership champions this season [Transfermarkt].
Regardless, his progressive statistics on league duty make for positive reading. Per Fotmob, the 22-year-old has made 399 successful passes (86.4% pass accuracy), alongside completing 100% of his successful dribbles, and he hasn’t been dispossessed once this term.
Defensively, Nawrocki has shown promising signs, making 1.3 tackles, 2.1 ball recoveries and 3.1 clearances per match, illustrating solidity, something which would only be enhanced featuring beside Cameron Carter-Vickers [Sofascore].
Above all, the last segment is probably the case for Nawrocki’s inclusion. Carter-Vickers and Nawrocki have barely featured together over the last year, so why not trial their partnership at home to an opponent where we are likely to dominate the ball?
Paulo Bernardo is creeping back into form for Celtic
On-loan midfielder Paulo Bernardo has swayed in and out of form for Celtic recently; however, he slowly appears to be stringing together some consistency at a crucial time in the season.
Following on from his goal at Livingston, the Portugal Under-21 international came off the bench at Ibrox and played a crucial role in Adam Idah’s stunning strike in front of the Broomloan.
Picking up possession on the left flank, Bernardo drove before sliding a penetrating through ball to the Irishman, who adjusted before leaving Jack Butland helpless in the Rangers goalmouth.
Taking his tally to four goals and three assists in hoops, per Transfermarkt, the Almada-born man is making a compelling case to activate the buyout clause present in his agreement, believed to stand at £6.4 million.
Capable of producing telling moments, it may on be appropriate to offer Bernardo a chance to ride the crest of a wave that has thrown him back into the Parkhead limelight.
Adam Idah is becoming too hard to ignore for Celtic
Nobody could’ve predicted Idah’s rise to prominence in the Celtic frontline, as the 23-year-old arrived to little fanfare on deadline day during the January transfer window.
Fast forward to mid-April, and the Republic of Ireland international has proved everyone wrong, notching six strikes in 11 outings in Celtic colours [Transfermarkt].
Establishing himself as the man for the big occasion, Idah’s late-minute monumental contributions against Hibernian, Motherwell are arguably the reason we still find ourselves in a title fight with Rangers.
Initially, the Norwich City loanee wasn’t billed as a prolific finisher; regardless, he has directed 17 of his 25 shots on target for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, an encouraging statistic in itself, conveying his awareness in the box and surrounding areas [Sofascore].
As we canter towards the end of 2023/24, Idah has presented Rodgers with a selection dilemma at the top end of the field that may be too difficult to ignore, taking his goal at Ibrox last weekend into account.