Celtic are praying Nicola Sturgeon will allow them to throw open the gates of Parkhead for next week’s Champions League crunch clash with Midtjylland.
Hoops chiefs will discover on Tuesday how many punters they can get in to the ground for the crucial tie with hopes there will be a bumper crowd given the green light.
Celts will have 2000 punters through the door for Saturday’s friendly clash with Preston but will find out on Tuesday afternoon if they numbers can be bumped up for the Euro showdown with the Danes.
Parkhead bosses are pushing for a significant amount to attend the game – and have been highlighting the huge attendances at recent Euro 2020 clashes.
Wembley welcomed around 60,000 for Sunday’s Euro 2020 Final while Hampden held around 12,000 for the group game a month ago.
Covid cases have been on the rise in Scotland in recent weeks but the numbers have dropped again in the past days and it’s now in Holyrood’s hands whether to stick to their road map out of lockdown, with the country scheduled to move to Level 0 on July 19, 24 hours before the Midtjylland clash.
Hoops chief exec Dominic McKay last month said: “I suspect by the time we get to our European fixtures we’ll have a good size crowd back in. And then when we get into our new season we should have every reason to get even larger crowds back in.
“I don’t want to say a number because it’s not for me to indicate a number. But the data points give huge confidence that we’re going to be able to get supporters back in.”
Meanwhile Celtic are facing a major fight to land French prospect Brandon Soppy with several clubs in France and England on his trail.
Rennes are looking for more than £4m for the 19-year-old full back and it has alerted sides in his homeland as well as in the Premier League.
Celts are frantically chasing down targets with several key positions needing to be filled, especially at right back and centre half.
But a lot could hinge on departures with Kris Ajer, Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie poised to leave if the right bids come in.
Celts are set to step up their pre-season plans in Wednesday night’s clash with Bristol City, where boss Ange Postecoglou is hoping to have playmaker Tom Rogic available and Boli Bolingoli could also feature after returning to the club following his loan spell in Turkey.
