Hibernian vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Easter RoadAttendance20,193.
Sunday 10 December 2017 11:39, UK
Brendan Rodgers expects a positive response from his Celtic players at Hibernian on Sunday - live on Sky Sports Football from 12pm - after a bittersweet Champions League defeat against Anderlecht on Tuesday.
The 1-0 loss at Parkhead saw the Hoops achieve their goal of qualifying for European football after Christmas in the shape of the Europa League, but they were disappointing on the night.
Rodgers was critical of his side's performance following the defeat - which saw them cling on to a creditable third-placed finish in a Champions League group also containing Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich - and expects his players to respond well against Hibernian on Sunday.
It will be the third time the two sides have met this season, with both previous matches coming immediately after a European clash.
Rodgers is confident his players will be able to put aside the disappointment of Tuesday in time for the trip to Easter Road.
When asked if he expected a positive reaction, the former Liverpool and Swansea boss responded: "We've always had it.
"Our overriding emotion is that it wasn't the most desirable result during the week in order to get to where we want to get to - which is the Europa League - but we got there."
Celtic travel to Edinburgh to face a Hibs side who have gone as close as any to ending their long unbeaten run domestically in a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park earlier this season.
Despite a punishing schedule which has seen his side play Motherwell three times in a week before the Champions League tie, Rodgers is looking forward to his first game at Easter Road.
"I'm really looking forward to going there," he said. "On Tuesday night we played our fourth game in nine days and they were all very physically taxing games.
"The only benefit going into this Sunday is we've had a bit of extra preparation time to recover physically and prepare tactically.
"I went to Hibs last year and thought the atmosphere was brilliant. Neil (Lennon) has done an outstanding job there and Easter Road is always going to be a tough game."
Hibernian have Danny Swanson and Steven Whittaker back fit after injury for Sunday's visit of Ladbrokes Premiership leaders Celtic.
Goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw will need a scan once his shoulder injury settles down and he misses out again. John McGinn returns from suspension but defenders David Gray (knee) and Liam Fontaine (ankle) are still out.
Brendan Rodgers will assess two players ahead of Celtic's trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian. Dedryck Boyata and Scott Sinclair both played in the 1-0 defeat to Anderlecht on Tuesday night despite struggling in the build-up to the game.
Boyata has been suffering from flu but is expected to be fit to play, while Sinclair suffered an ankle knock against Motherwell and will be assessed on Saturday after managing just 45 minutes. Patrick Roberts remains a long-term absentee with a hamstring injury.
Hibernian have won just one of their last 15 league meetings with Celtic (D4 L10), failing to score in eight of those games.
Celtic have been victorious on six of their last eight visits to Easter Road in the league (D1 L1), keeping a clean sheet in each of those wins.
Celtic's league unbeaten run has now stretched to 54 games after last weekend's 5-1 drubbing of Motherwell (W46 D8). Their last loss away from home in the Scottish Premiership was to St Johnstone in May 2016 (W24 D3 on the road since).
After his hat-trick against Motherwell last time out, Frenchman Odsonne Edouard now averages a goal every 66.3 minutes in the Scottish Premiership - he scored just one goal in 561 minutes for Toulouse in Ligue 1 last season.
