Sutton picks between Roberts and Sinclair for Celtic semi-final place

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Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers faces a tricky decision regarding who will play on the Hoops’ wing at Hampden Park this weekend.

Chris Sutton suggested during commentary of Celtic’s clash with Hamilton on Sunday on BT Sport (broadcast 08/04 from 12:00pm) that if he was making the decision, Patrick Roberts would get the nod ahead of Scott Sinclair for the Hoops’ Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Rangers this weekend.

The Bhoys have taken themselves to the brink of the Scottish Premiership title with a hard-fought win over Accies, and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that his side can keep themselves on track to secure a second consecutive Treble by booking their place in the final at the expense of their bitter rivals.

One of the key decisions facing Rodgers is who is going to play on the wing. James Forrest – who did not feature against Hamilton – will surely start at Hampden Park, leaving Rodgers with a potential choice between Roberts and Sinclair. And Sutton suggested that the Manchester City loanee should be the one who gets the nod on the opposite flank.

“I think that Roberts has been good this afternoon. I think he’s looked a threat. I think James Forrest will come back into the side. I think his performances have been really encouraging. If you’re asking me who I’d choose, I’d choose Roberts over Sinclair,” he told BT Sport.

Despite Sinclair putting in a quality cross for the winning goal against Accies, it would not be a huge surprise if a large portion of the Celtic fans agreed with Sutton that Roberts should start on Sunday.

The 29-year-old has not been at his best this year and Roberts is arguably the more exciting when they are both at their best. Whether Rodgers will look at the situation the same way however, remains to be seen.

It is undoubtedly fair to say that Sinclair did his chances of keeping his place no harm at all on Sunday with the perfectly-weighted ball into the box that allowed Leigh Griffiths to score the game’s deciding goal.