Celtic confirmed starting XI vs St Mirren for League Cup final as Wilfried Nancy makes two huge changes
Wilfried Nancy has named his Celtic starting line-up to face St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup final at Hampden Park
Wilfried Nancy has named his Celtic starting XI to face St Mirren for this afternoon’s Premier Sports Cup final at Hampden Park.
The defending champions have won seven of the last nine editions of the competition, but it’s difficult to believe the Hoops are arriving in Mount Florida at the peak of their powers.
With new boss Nancy already under a degree of pressure after back-to-back defeats to Hearts and AS Roma, Celtic now come up against a Buddies side who last lifted the trophy in the 2012/13 season.
Team news: 2 changes as Nancy reverts to back four
Nancy makes TWO changes to his starting line-up from the side that were swept aside 3-0 by Italian giants AS Roma in the Europa League on Thursday night, reverting to a back four.
Anthony Ralston and Kelechi Iheanacho after drafted into the XI, with Yang Hyun-jun and Benjamin Nygren dropping to the bench, signalling a change in formation.
Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Callum Osmand remain sidelined through injury.
What Luke McCowan has said pre-match
“I’m so excited for Sunday. You go through the two bad results we have, and you’ve got a cup final coming up. It’s not usually that’s the case, but we would have loved to have had momentum going into it.
“But Sunday is a big change, it’s Hampden, it’s a final, and regardless of if you’re going in there with momentum or not, it’s always going to be a difficult one. So we are glad that’s around the corner and we need to get ready for it as St Mirren are going to bring their best.
“It’s about using the experience before it to then give you the opportunity when you’re out there. And we need to just know that we need to be at our best to go and get the victory, as it’s not going to be just a stroll, because, as we’ve seen in the game at Paisley, they’ve held us out until Cal sticks one in in the top bin.
“We just need to use that game as a bit of confidence, and hopefully it can push us to defending our trophy.”
Here's your confirmed starting XI’s ahead of today’s showpiece encounter at the national stadium in Mount Florida...
St Mirren XI:
Shamal George; Marcus Fraser (C), Richard King, Miguel Freckleton, Conor McMenamin, Killian Phillips, Alex Gogic, Keanu Baccus, Declan John, Jonah Ayunga, Dan Nlundulu.
SUBS: Ryan Mullen (GK), Jayden Richardson, Scott Tanser, Fraser Taylor, Liam Donnelly, Mark O’Hara, Roland Idowu, Evan Mooney, Mikael Mandron.
Celtic XI:
Kasper Schmeichel; Anthony Ralston Auston Trusty, Liam Scales, Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor (C), Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, Sebastian Tounekti, Daizen Maeda, Kelechi Iheanacho.