Celtic's hopes of a fifth successive Scottish Premiership title might just be slipping away. On Sunday, Martin O'Neill's team were beaten 2-1 by Hibernian at Parkhead, with Benjamin Nygren equalising on the cusp of half-time, only for Kai Andrews to snatch victory for the Hibees right at the end.
This capped off a miserable four days for Celtic supporters, having seen their side get gubbed 4-1 by Stuttgart in the Europa League; in truth, they were lucky it wasn't six or seven. In the league meantime, that was the Hoops' seventh defeat of the campaign already, last suffering more in 1999/2000. Well, given their upcoming fixture list, that tally is only likely to increase at this rate.
Celtic's upcoming fixtures
- Thursday 26 February. Stuttgart (A). UEFA Europa League. Kick off 17:45.
- Sunday 1 March. Rangers (A). Premiership. Kick off 12:00
- Wednesday 4 March. Aberdeen (A). Premiership. Kick off 20:00.
- Sunday 8 March. Rangers (A). Scottish Cup. Kick off 13:00.
- Saturday 14 March. Motherwell (H). Premiership. Kick off 15:00.
- Sunday 22 March. Dundee United (A). Premiership. Kick off 12:30.
Between now and the March international break, the Celts face a sequence of season-defining fixtures. It's four successive away matches coming up, two of which are at Ibrox, before hosting a Motherwell side who are only four points behind the champions in fourth.
With Sunday's Glasgow derby in Govan up next on the domestic front, an upcoming SFA decision could have massive ramifications on that match.
Celtic's Auston Trusty red card appeal
The major turning point of Sunday's defeat at the hands of Hibs came 15 minutes from time. As Celtic prepared to take a corner, Jamie McGrath was marking Auston Trusty, and the American appeared to slap the Ireland international's arm as the pair were jostling. After being called over to the monitor by VAR, referee Matthew MacDermid dismissed Trusty, brandishing the red card, a decision that caused plenty of controversy.
"To send him off for that, we may as well all go up the road and stop playing football if that’s going to be a red card every single week."Callum McGregor
The club confirmed on Monday morning that they had appealed the decision to the SFA. Given that he was dismissed for violent conduct and has already been sent off this season, this coming at Tynecastle in January, Trusty would incur a three-match ban, thereby sitting out the Premiership fixtures against Rangers on Sunday, Aberdeen at Pittodrie and then Motherwell at home.
Well, with star defender Cameron Carter-Vickers sidelined long-term, this would be a major blow considering O'Neill's porosity of centre-back options.
Celtic's available centre-backs
Players | Age | Season minutes | Senior club apps |
|---|---|---|---|
Liam Scales | 27 | 3,597 | 339 |
Auston Trusty | 27 | 2,523 | 275 |
Dane Murray | 22 | 560 | 35 |
Benjamin Arthur | 20 | 187 | 4 |
In arguably the weakest position of Celtic's abject squad, losing Trusty would be disastrous. That's because, for vital fixtures, O'Neill would be forced to deploy either Dane Murray or Benjamin Arthur alongside Liam Scales, both of whom are very inexperienced.
Arthur, who's made just three senior appearances for Brentford, made his Celtic debut off the bench after Trusty's dismissal, so throwing him straight into a derby at Ibrox would be a major risk. Meantime, Murray has started just five matches this season, seemingly not trusted by any manager.
So, while neither Scales nor Trusty are beloved among Celtic supporters, they're the best they've currently got, so they'd better hope the SFA agree with their stance and overturns the American's incoming suspension.