Who will line up for Brendan Rodgers as Celtic prepare to face Hibs?

Celtic return to league action on Saturday as they travel to another tricky away ground, Easter Road, to face Nick Montgomery’s Hibs side.

Confidence will be high in the Celtic camp after a hard-fought point at home to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, but Rodgers may be keeping in the back of his mind the fact that he has never won in three trips to Easter Road, those matches bearing two losses and a draw.

Former Central Coast Mariners coach, Montgomery, has won just two of his first seven matches at Easter Road since taking over from Lee Johnson last month.

How will Brendan Rodgers line up? Here is A Celtic State of Mind’s team prediction for this afternoon’s trip to Easter Road.

GK – Joe Hart

The English keeper looked to be back to his best mid-week, making a good effort to deny Antoine Griezmann’s penalty kick but being unlucky to concede the rebound.

RB – Alistair Johnston

Johnston was a steady presence against Atlético Madrid, making a good effort to get forward as well as handling his defensive duties well. He will be expected to be up for the occasion at another hostile ground, as he always is.

CB – Cameron Carter-Vickers

The American put in a decent performance in the Champions League, but as he always is domestically, he will be expected to be the colossal presence in the Celtic backline and limit the chances afforded to the likes of Dylan Vente and Elie Youan.

CB – Liam Scales

Scales is continuing his upward trajectory under Brendan Rodgers and he was one of the standout performers against Atlético Madrid as he continues to rise to the big occasion. Scales’ trips to Easter Road last season saw him receive two red cards, so a decent performance at the weekend would provide a massive improvement on last season.

LB – Greg Taylor

Taylor looked shaky against Atlético, but domestically over the last few weeks he has been coming into his own and will be looking to build upon that momentum this weekend.

CM – Callum McGregor

The captain, much like Greg Taylor, has been coming into his own over the last few weeks after a below-par start to the season, and his display against Atlético was one of his most impressive performances so far this season.

CM – Matt O’Riley

O’Riley picked up his second UEFA Champions League player-of-the-match award of his career mid-week as he ran the show against an astute Atlético Madrid defence. Recent reports from Fabrizio Romano indicate that Celtic would only sell the Dane for a club-record fee and he is swiftly becoming an invaluable member of Rodgers’ squad.

CM – Paulo Bernardo

The Benfica midfielder got his first prolonged period on the park for Celtic as he replaced the injured Reo Hatate after just seven minutes against Atleti. He looked up for the occasion and was pressing well, two qualities that will be vital for our visit to the capital.

RW – Daizen Maeda

Maeda was relentless again in the Champions League and will be looking for a repeat of the long-range screamer he scored in a 4-0 demolition of the Hibees last season rather than the red-card he received in the post-split fixture at Easter Road.

ST – Kyogo Furuhashi

The Japanese forward scored for his second consecutive Champions League game and will be looking to carry over the high confidence and performance levels to this afternoon’s game.

LW – Luis Palma

The Honduran scored a brilliant goal against Atleti and has been adjusting well to life at Parkhead. He doesn’t seem to score bad goals at the moment and another top-quality strike at Easter Road will earn him further acclaim from the Celtic support that have already taken to him warmly.

JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE