Celtic 3-0 Livingston – Brendan rewarded for clever use of his squad

More than a few eyebrows were raised when the team sheet was released for yesterday’s clash with Livingston at Celtic Park.

Dane Murray was handed a starting slot alongside skipper for the day Liam Scales, whilst Hayato Inamura was handed a surprise start just days after Brendan left him out of his European squad, but the Japanese left back found himself making his first competitive start for the club as Brendan decided to rotate his squad with two massive fixtures pending in the next seven days.

Luke McCowan and Paulo Bernardo were also handed a start alongside Arne Engles in midfield, whilst Yang, Shin, and Benjamin Nygren made up the front three.

Automatic first team starters Cameron Carter Vickers, Kieran Tierney, Skipper Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda were left out with the long trip to Almaty to take on Kairat in mind, and whilst it was considered a bit of a gamble against a dogged Livi side, it worked a treat in the end.

An all action fast paced second half made up for a lacklustre opening forty five as a brace from the superb Benjamin Nygren and a solitary strike from substitute Johnny Kenny gave us a well earned three points.

Brendan would have been particularly pleased with the performances of Dane Murray and Hayato Inamura who both shined and proved that they are more than capable of stepping up to the first team when required. Something that bodes very well for going forward.

It was a satisfying day all round, and now we can fully shift our focus to Tuesday night.

Here’s the Unique Angle from Celtic TV from Celtic’s 3-0 win over Livingston for you to enjoy…