Reo Hatate and Liel Abada are back in the mix with both eyeing surprise slots in the squad for Saturday’s clash with Rangers.
When Celtic’s two main players, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada, return to action, Greg Taylor acknowledges it will be huge.
And as the champions prepare for Rangers, the full-back feels it’s up to Paulo Bernardo to build on his magical moment once more. Prior to the Old Firm match, Taylor’s team leads, and prominent players are also getting back into shape. After missing seven weeks due to a hamstring issue, Hatate is getting closer to making a comeback.Abada sustained a quad injury in September, which has resulted in an even longer stay in the rehabilitation center.
Even though they are unlikely to start an Old Firm match following such extended absences, the Israeli attacker and Japanese midfielder are both practicing hard and hoping to sneak into the starting lineup on Saturday. Taylor responded, “Exactly,” Not only for the weekend’s game, but for life in general. These gentlemen have been missed. Reo adds a genuine vibrancy. He has great ball control, creativity, and genuine energy in the middle. Liel also poses a threat from behind. They are both excellent players for us because he can score goals. We will benefit from competition for spots and the return of these men, who played really important roles in the previous season, as they have been injured for a long time.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has alternated between Bernardo, David Turnbull, Odin Thiago Holm, and Tomoki Iwata as the third midfield player behind Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley in Hatate’s absence. The Portuguese has established a strong claim to play against Rangers by taking the field for the last two games against Livingston and Dundee.
Rodgers praised Bernardo for his performance in the Boxing Day victory over Dundee, when the 21-year-old’s first Celtic goal capped a fantastic day for him. Now that he is in the lead for an Old Firm start, Taylor responded, “It’s in his hands,” when asked if his teammate’s chances could be improved by the Dens performance. He played pretty well, in my opinion.
“He also had some excellent runs the other night. In the hopes that it may benefit him. He has participated in several challenging Champions League games, and I believe he performed admirably in them. He has then played consistently in the league for the past two weeks, and I believe he has performed well.
Despite Bernardo’s shoddy strike, Taylor grinned and said, “I thought it was pretty good!” However, it was once more making that run into that region. Naturally, there is a small element of luck involved, but I felt that given his performance, he deserved that.
Celtic bounced back from stunning back-to-back Premiership losses to Kilmarnock and Hearts with their second straight victory in Tayside.
“I think we had done a lot of the good things in the first half and got the rewards in the second,” Taylor remarked, comparing the performance to that of Livingston. I believe it was appropriate that we received some criticism because the two losses taken as a whole weren’t good enough.
As a result of our underwhelming performances, we received some criticism. That is typical, particularly for a club this size. The fans want outcomes and performances. However, there are plenty of boys in the locker room who have large, broad shoulders and the ability to accept criticism and go out and show people incorrect.
Another huge step in the right way would be a win over Rangers, but Taylor is keeping things low when it comes to ideas of extra meaning for a win, saying, “Every game is important.” This Saturday is the same. There are just three points at stake, just like in every other league game.
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