The Hoops face their bitter rivals in the Scottish Premiership in their first game back following the international break.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Celtic hero Davie Hay has told the Evening Times that he expects Brendan Rodgers to pick Dorus de Vries over Craig Gordon for the upcoming Old Firm game.
Gordon has spent the last couple of seasons as the side’s first-choice, but Rodgers decided to bolster his options shortly after his arrival by bringing the former Nottingham Forest stopper in to compete for a place between the sticks.
Celtic’s Craig Gordon
And while the Scotland international saved a penalty during the Hoops’ Champions League qualifying game with Hapoel Be’er Sheva, he was also partly responsible for the Israeli side’s second goal on the night which put the home team within one goal of going through to the group-stages.
And Rodgers appeared to confirm that he deemed the 33-year-old to be partially at fault by dropping him for de Vries for the subsequent Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen.
That has led Hay to believe that it will be the Dutchman that is selected for the clash with their bitter rivals this weekend, especially with a daunting Champions League clash just around the corner.
Dorus de Vries, during his time with Nottingham Forest
“To me, the be all and end all is keeping the ball out of the net, coming from crosses and commanding your area. And while Gordon could improve his distribution, it is nowhere near as poor as some have claimed,” he told the Evening Times.
“There have been faults in his game of late and I do think that Rodgers appears to favour De Vries. But I think Gordon is the kind of guy that we will see get his head down and work hard to take his chance when the time comes round again.
“His only problem is that with the game against Rangers on the horizon, a game that then leads straight into the Champions League, it looks as though the gloves belong to De Vries. For the time being, anyway.”
While the international break arguably means that neither side could really take much momentum into the upcoming fixture, it seems likely that Rodgers would want to run through some plans before some of the squad departed to join up with their national sides.
It would arguably therefore, be odd if the Northern Irishman decided to drop his number one for their final game before they face the Gers only to bring him back in for Saturday, as he would surely want Gordon to be as prepared as possible if the intention was for him to start.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
