Forgotten cost of Celtic's Scottish League Cup win

Celtic v Rangers - Premier Sports Cup Final
Celtic v Rangers - Premier Sports Cup Final | Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

Right now, another treble seems very much a possibility for Celtic. The club are leading the Premiership title race by a comfortable margin and are the Scottish Cup holders, with the League Cup back in their hands again too after Sunday’s incredible win over the Rangers. So far so good for this season.

It was a tough game, over 120 minutes and then penalties. There were many strong tackles in there too. John Beaton handed out 11 yellow cards, three to Celtic players and eight to the Rangers.

That in itself tells a tale of which team was trying to make it a cagey contest. Beaton somehow managed to avoid having to issue a red despite having so many players on yellows. 

The nature of the game may well have added an extra cost for Brendan Rodgers’ side though. His injury list was looking pretty good going into the final. That looks unlikely to be the case in the run-up to this weekend's Premiership match away against Dundee United. 

Forgotten cost of Celtic's Scottish League Cup win

Alistair Johnston was replaced by Anthony Ralston in the final as the Canadian looked to still be struggling with the injury he picked up against Dinamo Zagreb in mid-week. He played on the big day but may need more time to recover.

During the final, Reo Hatate picked up a few knocks. One in particular seemed to leave him struggling in the latter stages. He did seem to be running it off and of course, took his penalty superbly. But in the post-match celebrations, the Japanese international did not seem to be moving freely.

Hatate could be joined in the treatment room by James Forrest. The winger picked up his 25th major trophy on Sunday and now tops the club record list alongside Bobby Lennox.

Forrest came on for Nicolas Kuhn with just 15 minutes of extra-time remaining. Despite a short appearance, the veteran still managed to find himself hobbling around the pitch afterwards. He shrugged it off when asked about it in his post-match interview, but he could be another on Rodgers’ injury list this week.

Fortunately, the squad depth at Celtic is strong and there is plenty of cover available. But Rodgers will want to have his full-strength team back as soon as possible.