Reo Hatate’s injury is a blow but it won’t derail Celtic’s Treble chase

As first feared Reo Hatate has been ruled out for the conclusion of the season meaning he will miss next weekend’s Scottish Cup final showdown against Aberdeen as Celtic aim to clinch the treble.

Reo was the victim of a shocking tackle by Aberdeen forward Pape Gueye in the closing stages of Wednesday nights humbling of the Dons at Pittodrie, one that left Brendan Rodgers raging and righty so. You can see the anger in Reo’s face on the image below

Reo has been on fine form this season – his best so far in a Celtic jersey – and it goes without saying that we will miss him greatly at Hampden next weekend in the Scottish Cup Final. Reo’s a player who can be a game changer on the day and we will miss his creativity in the middle of the park, but on the whole we should still be capable of winning in his absence.

Reo Hatate didn’t start against our cup final opponents at Pittodrie and we still had more than enough for the Dons on the night. Luke McCowan, and Paulo Bernardo done a splendid job alongside Callum McGregor, whilst not forgetting Arne Engels who was rested but will ultimately feature at Hampden.

As much as we’ll miss Reo we have more than enough to overcome the Dons at Hampden next Saturday with Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan going to use Trophy Day today against St Mirren to stake their own claims for a starting spot at Hampden. Brendan will no doubt give minutes to both today to state their cases with Paulo starting and Luke getting half an hour.

Reo Hatate has had a magnificent season for Celtic, that tackle was well out of order and will add an edge to Celtic’s game next weekend. He can give it out, let’s see how he is at taking some back. CCV’s gonna get ya!