Motherwell vs Celtic team predictions: Johnston & Carter-Vickers in contention

Celtic find themselves in a position where every single game cinch Premiership can be seen as must-win. Poor form following the return from the winter break with draws against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock has seen the team lose their grip at the top of the cinch Premiership table, with Rangers leading, and Celtic will be looking to keep the gap at the top down to 2 points later today.

Celtic making up the chasing pack is a pretty unfamiliar position for the club, but they will have to find the right mentality to tackle the games ahead, starting with a tough trip to Fir Park to face Motherwell later today.

Here is A Celtic State of Mind’s team predictions for today’s trip to North Lanarkshire.

Joe Hart – The Englishman announced that he will be retiring from professional football at the end of the season earlier this week, and will be looking to draw his career to a close on a high with some success in his final season at Celtic.

Alistair Johnston – Alistair Johnston has been out of action for a number of weeks after suffering a facial injury at Easter Road against Hibernian. He has been training with the team this week and could make his return to the fold today.

Cameron Carter-Vickers – The American has been touted to return to the team for a few weeks now, and after being spotted back in first-team training alongside fellow North American Johnston, he should return to the team at Fir Park.

Liam Scales – Scales will be delighted to have Carter-Vickers back in the team alongside him, alleviating a lot of the responsibility that he has been taking on in absence of the American.

Greg Taylor – Taylor returned to the team last-week, playing an hour against his former side and should be ready to last the full 90 minutes against Motherwell.

Matt O’Riley – The Danish international has had a quiet few weeks since returning from the winter break and will be looking to hit similar heights to those he hit in the first-half of the season.

Callum McGregor – The captain’s effort can never be faulted despite some of the results over the last few weeks, but he will be hoping to help turn the club’s fortunes around in the title race.

Yang Hyun-jun – Yang brought some energy that the team was sorely missing in his brief cameo from the bench against Kilmarnock, and with very few of Celtic’s wide players showing the required quality over the last few fixtures, Yang may find a place in the team.

Luis Palma – The Honduran has been underperforming since returning from the winter break, and will he hoping to perform better than he did last weekend where he was hooked at half-time.

Kyogo Furuhashi – Kyogo has grabbed 2 goals in his last 2 games and will be hoping to continue to build up some good form over the next few weeks.

Adam Idah – After a perfect debut at Easter Road in which he grabbed a brace, Idah hasn’t been as clinical in front of goal and will be looking to get back on the scoresheet today.

James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie