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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Will Lancaster

Celtic squad revealed as Oh and 2 other stars boost Ange’s options as they return against Dundee United

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou will look to rally his troops to restore their nine-point gap over bitter rivals Rangers as they travel to Tayside on Sunday afternoon to face an out-of-sorts Dundee United side.

The Tangerines are one of four teams in a relegation cat-fight, with themselves, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Ross County all joined at the hip on 20 points. A loss against the league leaders would be no shame, though setting a good precedent is key to haul themselves out. Celtic, meanwhile, have not lost in the league since September. A truly incredible run of form has seen them drop just five points all season, and Postecoglou's side will be looking to extend that despite losing a couple of players in the transfer window.

This is the first time in 18 months that Celtic will be without Josip Juranovic registered to their squad; the Croat signed for Union Berlin last Sunday, and as a result it is almost guaranteed that Alistair Johnston will start in the right-back berth.

Greg Taylor has had a full week’s training under his belt after going off early with a hamstring injury against Rangers at the start of the new year, so could return to the side and nudge Alexandro Bernabei out the way.

Elsewhere in defence, the old guard of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers – like Taylor set to return after a week’s training – will marshall the full-backs by keeping possession and limiting chances to an absolute minimum for Liam Fox’s side.

Callum McGregor is back to his best after a series of games as the kingpin in midfield following his knee injury which only saw him return after the World Cup break. An ever-present in the league since, him and Aaron Mooy have been superb since the break - which may give Postecoglou second thoughts on Matt O'Riley's inclusion with his fellow countryman continuing to impress.

Reo Hatate will likely fill the final midfield spot, and he could be replaced by Tomoki Iwata or David Turnbull at some point in the game.

Liel Abada and Daezen Maeda started last week's tie against Morton, yet with Sead Haksabanovic, Jota and James Forrest on the bench, there is a host of talents that Postecoglou could choose from. With Abada and Jota impressing against Fox's side at Tannadice earlier this season - with the former scoring a hat-trick - that could see them given the nod.

And Kyogo Furuhashi could look to continue his rich vein of form with another start at Tannadice. He has scored in all but three of his nine fixtures since the World Cup, including braces against St Johnstone on Christmas Eve and in his last two games respectively.

Oh could find his way onto the pitch to make his Scottish debut after signing from Suwon Bluewings earlier this week - especially with Giorgos Giakoumakis seemingly on his way out of the club and Celtic unwilling to risk injury.

Provisional Celtic squad

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart

Scott Bain

Defenders

Yuki Kobayashi

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Alexandro Bernabei

Alistair Johnston

Greg Taylor

Carl Starfelt

Midfielders

Reo Hatate

Aaron Mooy

Matt O’Riley

Callum McGregor

David Turnbull

Tomoki Iwata

Forwards

Liel Abada

James Forrest

Kyogo Furuhashi

Jota

Daizen Maeda

Oh Hyeon-gyu

Sead Haksabanovic

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