Martin O'Neill may have hinted at Viljami Sinisalo getting his starting job back for Celtic's Old Firm clash with Rangers on Sunday.
Sinisalo started the season well for the Bhoys, but new loan signing Sam Johnstone was given the chance to impress on Wednesday night in a win over St Johnstone. Johnstone, not to be confused with the team he faced, produced a big first-half save that impressed, but beyond that, there wasn't all that much for him to do.
O'Neill may well want to get another look at the former England international, but an Old Firm with Rangers is hardly the game to be running experiments, and while the Celtic boss says he hasn't made his mind up yet, he has hinted that he still has question marks over Johnstone, while praising Sinisalo's impact this term.
“I haven’t made my mind up at all," said O'Neill. "I thought he did very well. Again, it was a matter of we need to get a look at what Sam can do.
“I think it’s great to have the two of them. I think Viljami Sinisalo has done exceptionally well for us. And it was just, again, an opportunity to see what Sam can do now, what he could do a couple of years ago was fantastic, what he can do now might be a totally different picture.”
The veteran boss added: “Honestly, I will let them know personally."
O'Neill must be careful with keeper decision
Sinisalo has proven he can be a keeper O'Neill can trust between the end of last season and the start of this one, while Celtic don't really know what they have in Johnstone.
He made that big save, yes, but there were some distribution issues and some general rustiness, which may well be resolved. But the derby is not a game where you want to be taking those sorts of chances.
You ride with the in-form hand, and Sinisalo is clearly in rhythm, having started every other game before the St Johnstone game. The last thing O'Neill wants is to put Johnstone in here and have the gamble backfire. At least if Sinisalo makes a mistake, he can justify it with the fact the 24-year-old has been error-free this season, and the goalkeeper competition can truly start from there.
If Johnstone commits an error, the Celtic boss is going to have to answer for why he made the change so early and based on such limited evidence that a change was required.
Add us as a preferred source on Google