Celtic boss elaborates on the changes he’s made for today’s final
Neil Lennon has explained his decision to bring Scott Brown back into the side at the expense of Ismaila Soro.
The 22-year-old has impressed in the recent victories against Lille and Kilmarnock, but Lennon has revealed that Soro had suffered from a case of food poisoning.
Soro begins today’s Scottish Cup Final against Hearts on the bench, with Brown wearing the armband and Ryan Christie coming in.
Diego Laxalt is named among the substitutes, while Conor Hazard keeps his place in goal.
Speaking on Premier Sports ahead of kick-off at Hampden, Lennon said: “Broony’s the captain, we need his experience out there.
“He’s played in huge finals before. Soro got a bit of food poisoning believe it or not yesterday, didn’t eat until late last night. He’s a little bit dehydrated, so we couldn’t really take the chance to start him anyway, but we had Broony in mind to start this game.
“Christie comes in. I think he’ll be more of a goal threat. I’m hoping we’ll have plenty of the ball, and he scored a wonder goal here in the semi-final and he knows the pitch very well.”
Asked if he had any extra words for Hazard before today’s game, Lennon said: “No, I think sometimes you just leave them to it. I don’t want to put too much emphasis.
“They’ve got to play the game and not the occasion. He’s been training very well. He’s earned his chance, he’s taken it, and we’ve no qualms about starting him today.”
Celtic have endured a difficult campaign so far, being knocked out of the Europa League and Betfred Cup as well as falling 16 points behind rivals Rangers, but today represents a major opportunity to lift the mood at Celtic Park while making history.
A repeat of their win against the same opposition in last year’s final will see Lennon’s men claim a historic quadruple treble.
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