Hibernian vs Celtic. Viaplay Cup Semi Final.
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Saturday 21 October 2017 12:33, UK
Brendan Rodgers anticipates a tight affair when his Celtic side face Hibernian on Saturday lunchtime in the first of two Scottish League Cup semi-finals taking place at Hampden Park this weekend.
Hibernian will look to topple Brendan Rodgers' side (kick-off 12.15pm) after they were comfortably beaten by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in midweek, where Celtic's hopes of reaching the knockout round of the Champions League were dealt a major blow.
"Semi-finals are normally tight games,' Rodgers said. "We've enjoyed our time at Hampden, the players have played very well there. We expect a tight and tough game but as always we hope we have the game model to get us a victory.
"It's about preparing the best you can physically and mentality, come tomorrow the players will be ready. The players have got this real determination and it's something we'll take into the game tomorrow."
Celtic, who are unbeaten in 59 domestic games, had to come from behind at home to earn a 2-2 draw with Hibernian in September.
The Edinburgh side last won the League Cup in 2007 but were beaten finalists in 2016, a few months before ending their 114-year wait for Scottish Cup glory.
Hibernian have been regulars at Hampden in recent times and will be playing at the national stadium for the 21st time since 2000.
Lennon won the League Cup twice as a player with Celtic, but fell short in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen last season, having sealed promotion to the top flight in his maiden campaign.
"It would mean a lot to me to win Saturday's game and to be in charge of Hibernian in a major final, but it would only have real significance if we went on to win it", he said.
"Despite that, I'm not thinking about the final, my main focus is on negotiating the semi-final which I think is the toughest task in Scottish football."
Darren McGregor (knee) and Liam Fontaine (ankle) miss out for Hibernian but goalkeeper Ofir Marciano returns to the squad after his wife gave birth last weekend.
Celtic will be without Jozo Simunovic for the next few weeks after the Bosnian defender suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury but the rest of the squad is unchanged from the trip to Germany.
Anthony Ralston also remains sidelined but Erik Sviatchenko is back in training once more following knee ligament damage while James Forrest and Moussa Dembele will both be pushing for starts.
Celtic remain overwhelming favourites and are 4/11 with Sky Bet to reach the final with a victory inside 90 minutes over Hibernian (7/1) with a draw available at 4/1.
Anthony Stokes is 10/1 first to score while Leigh Griffiths to bag a brace is now 4/1. Celtic are 4/7 to win the competition outright.
