Celtic travel to Edinburgh this Wednesday night in the hopes of both extending their unbeaten domestic run to 16 games and heaping even more pressure on chaos-ravaged Rangers by moving four points clear at the top of the SPL. Hearts, meanwhile, are looking to build on their solid start to 2012 – which has so far brought three wins from five games – and move clear of fifth-placed St. Johnstone, with whom they are currently level on points.
The onus, however, will be on the away team in this match. Not unusual when one of the Old Firm are away from their respective homes; but this meeting comes in a week which has added a new dimension to the SPL title race. While not exactly a revelation for most up-to-date fans, the unveiling of the extent of Rangers’ financial woes on a national level was explosive nonetheless. Add to this the fact the story came just at the moment they lost top scorer Nikica Jelavić to Everton and subsequently lost their Scottish Cup Quarter Final match at Ibrox to Dundee United, and it is clear that Celtic are now very much in the driving seat. It is now, ultimately, Celtic’s league to lose.
Both managers face a selection headache, but of different sorts. While Paolo Sergio has to contend with losing central midfielder Ian Black to suspension, worries over the fitness of both influential winger David Templeton and left-back Danny Grainger as well as the absence of regular first-choice goalkeeper Marián Kello due to transfer issues and forward Kevin Kyle, Neil Lennon’s only headache is who to select. He has virtually a full squad available, the only exceptions being recent signing Mikael Lustig, who is sidelined with a hip injury, and longer-term absentees Beram Kayal and Mohamed Bangura. The Celtic manager was heavily scrutinised for his choice of starting eleven in Inverness last Saturday, but was justified in a dominant 2-0 win. That line-up had no starting berth for last season’s Player of the Year Emilio Izaguirre, unimpressive since his return from serious injury, James Forrest, who has been outstanding in his first full season as a regular, or Anthony Stokes – Celtic’s current top scorer with 17 goals from 32 games in all competitions – so there could be changes in personnel for the game at Tynecastle.
Current Form (Last 5 games):
Hearts – WWWLD (10 goals scored, 5 conceded).
Celtic – WWWWW (12 goals scored, 2 conceded).
Squads:
Hearts (from): MacDonald, Ridgers; Hamill, Barr, Grainger (doubtful), Webster, Zaliukas, McGowan, Mullen; Skacel, Obua, Santana, Templeton (doubtful), Driver, Taouil, Mrowiec; Robinson, Noviovas, Elliot, Smith, Glen.
Celtic (from): Forster, Zaluska, Cervi; Matthews, Cha, Izaguirre, K. Wilson, Rogne, Mulgrew, Majstorovic; Twardzik, Ledley, Brown, Wanyama, Ki, Commons, Forrest; Hooper, Stokes, Samaras, Brożek.