Brendan Rodgers may look to chop and change his Celtic side on Wednesday night.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is likely to make a number of changes to his side after the Hoops finally lost their unbeaten run in an appalling performance that saw them swept aside 4-0 by Hearts.
Craig Levein’s side ran riot on Tynecastle and now Rodgers must consider axing a number of his first-team mainstays in order to freshen things up and give Celtic the best chance of beating Partick Thistle on Wednesday night.
A number of Celtic stars were way below par, including Dedryck Boyata, Callum McGregor and Craig Gordon but Rodgers’ first wielding of the starting eleven axe should see 23-year-old Jozo Simunovic omitted to the bench.
The Croatian was in doubt for Hearts’ third, kicking thin air to allow Manuel Malinkovic to round Craig Gordon as well as being out of position for Kyle Lafferty’s effort and slow to react to Harry Cochrane’s left-footed effort.
Rodgers has already moved quickly after the defeat to Hearts to address his concerns at the heart of his defence, which has seen him almost complete the signing of RedBull Leipzig defender Marvin Compper, according to BBC Sport.
Simunovic will have convinced the former Liverpool manager to act in the transfer market and now he should be dropped, with Erik Sviatchenko replacing the ex-Dinamo Zagreb defender until Compper arrives.
Five-time Denmark international Sviatchenko has made just two appearances all season and has been altogether ostracised from the 18-man squad by Rodgers, missing out on the bench for the last five matches.
However, the Daily Record name the Dane in their provisional squad ahead of Wednesday night’s match, and in Rodgers’ desperate time of need he should turn to the former FC Midtjylland defender to help Celtic get back to winning ways.
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