The Mentality Required To Get Celtic Over The Line

Celtic eventually sealed their passage into the Scottish Cup semi-finals at the weekend thanks to late goals from Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi. Despite the 4-2 scoreline however it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Hoops on the day and the nature of the goals conceded must be giving serious cause for concern to Brendan Rodgers. In truth centre half pairing Liam Scales and Stephen Welsh were less than convincing throughout and the manager must be ruing the niggling injuries that have limited defensive rock Cameron Carter-Vickers’ appearances throughout the campaign. On this occasion his absence was described as precautionary following a concern at training on Friday and the hope is he’ll return against St Johnstone this weekend. Aside from the defensive qualities he undoubtedly brings however it’s his calmness and leadership which are every bit as important to this Celtic side.Put simply Livingston don’t score their first goal if CCV is in place, and the same very likely applies to their second. Though quiet by nature the US international is a determined character who leads by example and Celtic are notably weaker without his presence.