Five wins on the bounce have brought the mojo back at the Celtic camp ahead of their Sunday night contest against Ross County at Victoria Park. A 1-0 win against Aberdeen showed the Hoops’ ability to grind out results and the bottom-placed Staggies would have a mountain to climb to stun the league’s most in-form squad.
Celtic, meanwhile, have already been dazed once by the Dingwall-based outfit when they knocked the champions out from the League Cup second round. But the Bhoys hit them back a month later and would look to secure a thumping victory once again to extend the streak and delay Rangers’ title triumph.
Predicted 4-1-3-2 Celtic Lineup To Face Ross County
Defence
Neil Lennon has brought Scott Bain back between the sticks ahead of Vasilis Barkas and Conor Hazard. Despite early jitters, the Scotsman is finally showing some confidence as well as composure.
Stephen Welsh’s return is a massive boost for Celtic who would retain his place alongside Kristoffer Ajer in the heart of the backline. Shane Duffy is having a dreadful stint on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion and the Irishman would only find a place among the substitutes similar to the Aberdeen tie. Jonjoe Kenny needs to be a bit more creative while making overlapping runs, but his balanced display has restored stability down the right-hand side. Greg Taylor is now the preferred left-back option over Diego Laxalt and the gaffer should let him develop to secure a long-term future.
Midfield
Ismaila Soro returned to the starting XI against the Dons allowing skipper Scott Brown to have some much-needed rest after an array of appearances in recent weeks. However, the promising show from the Ivorian would lead to a selection dilemma and we might eventually see the manager banking on the veteran 35-year-old for the Staggies clash.
Versatile Callum McGregor would operate from the left, whereas Ryan Christie should keep hold of his place and improve his performance while occupying the right-midfield slot. Majestic David Turnbull must feature centrally in order to produce a similar impact as he did against Derek McInnes’ men.
Attack
Lennon needs to try a new combination upfront with Albian Ajeti not clicking at all alongside hitman Odsonne Edouard. Leight Griffiths seems to have lost his place and the Celtic chief should now try his luck with promising Patryk Klimala who needs more minutes to grow his game as an outright ‘number 9’.
