Brendan Rodgers will not be afraid to unleash the heavy artillery in pursuit of more silverware as Celtic look to take another step towards a double treble in this afternoon’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final encounter with Rangers at Hampden Park.
Since losing to Rangers at the same stage of this competition two years ago, Rodgers’ all-conquering Celtic have not lost to their city rivals in nine matches.
In the previous meeting between the teams last month, the partnership of Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard teamed up to clinical effect to give 10-man Celtic a significant 3-2 win at Ibrox on league duty.
With plenty of fire power at his disposal as injuries continue to clear up, Rodgers has a few decisions to make and could also be tempted to throw in fit-again Leigh Griffiths, who emerged from the bench last weekend to score the winner against Hamilton.
Rodgers said: “I’ve got a decision all over the team, a decision on the best way to try to beat Rangers and then fitting the players in around that plan. That’s our approach in every game. You will have seen that throughout the season
“Edouard has hurt them (Rangers) in the past. The most important thing is having them available. I have them all available and they will all contribute at some point I am sure. It just depends on what the game needs.
“I think that (going with two strikers) is the best way to win. Against Hamilton we went to two straight away when they had a man sent off because that helps pin them back and change the shape of the team. I have no qualms about playing two. We normally play with three. One central and two fairly narrow. Scott Sinclair is a goalscorer, he just plays from the side. Of course, sometimes two goalscorers playing together can make the same runs. That is the issue but it’s no drama."
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