Celtic handed major boost as star returns to squad

Celtic have been handed a major boost heading into their League Cup opener against Ross County as the star has been named in their squad.

A second round Scottish League Cup tie would not generally have this much riding on it for Celtic but this time around, it is a must-win for Neil Lennon’s side. They have been in terrible form over the past several weeks, winning just two of their last nine games in all competitions. As a result, the Hoops cannot afford to come out of today’s game without anything other than a convincing win.

They have been handed a major boost in that quest as Leigh Griffiths has been named in their provisional squad. The Scot was out against Sparta Prague with an injury but it appears that it isn’t a serious one.

This is brilliant news for the Hoops considering how the goals have tried up for them recently. Over the last 9 games, they have managed to score 16 goals while conceding a staggering 21, more than they did in the entire 2018/19 league campaign.

As a result, the return of someone like Griffiths is without doubt a promising sign for Lennon’s side. While the striker has had his struggles with fitness as well as off-field issues this campaign, it is undeniable that he possesses a goalscoring threat that most others in the squad do not.

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Here’s the Celtic provisional squad for the game against Ross County:

Scott Bain, Vasilis Barkas, Conor Hazard, Hatem Abd Elhamed, Christopher Jullien, Shane Duffy, Kristoffer Ajer, Nir Bitton, Stephen Welsh, Diego Laxalt,Greg Taylor, Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor, Ismaila Soro, Ewan Henderson, Ryan Christie, Tom Rogic, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Karamoko Dembele, Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths, Albian Ajeti and Patryk Klimala.

The Hoops looked at their best towards the end of last season when deploying the duo of Edouard and Griffiths. While neither of them have looked in top form this season, someway down the line it is worth giving them another shot to play together considering how little has gone Celtic’s way in recent times.

It is unclear though whether the striker is fit enough to feature and it is very unlikely that he will be given a start.