RONNY DEILA is set to ring the changes against Hamilton Accies today in order to give his side a fighting chance against Internazionale in the San Siro on Thursday night.
The Celtic manager - whose decision to make ten alterations to his starting line up, in the midst of a Champions League qualifying tie against NK Maribor, back in August for an away match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle backfired in a 1-0 defeat - knows he must preserve his players' energy levels for the supreme effort which will be required if they are to progress into the last 16 of the Europa League.
While the likes of Kris Commons, James Forrest and Anthony Stokes are in contention again and could come in for new boys Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, Deila's room for manoeuvre is limited by the fact Aberdeen are snapping at their heels domestically. The Pittodrie side travel to Celtic Park a week today, for a match which will go a long way to determining the validity of their title challenge.
"There will be some changes," said Deila, "but I don't know how many because the important thing is that we have to win the game. But I'm more confident to change now than I was six months ago."
In particular, the Norwegian was last night agonising over whether Craig Gordon, after a tumultuous evening on Thursday night, would benefit more from being taken out of the firing line or given an early chance to get his uncharacteristic mistake against Inter out of his system.
"I don't know [if Gordon will play] yet," said Deila. "He's one of the ones we're thinking what to do about. There are a lot of options."
Few positions in Deila's starting line-up are more coveted than the one out-and-out striking role. Having lost his place in the lead-up to the first leg to Leigh Griffiths, Deila hinted that last-minute goal hero John Guidetti may have played his way into the starting line-up for Milan.
"His [Guidetti's] chances are much better," said Deila. "Leigh had a good game but it is hard competition and we have so many games we are going to use the squad and Guidetti has a good chance to start. The Inter defenders were tired when John came on and he was fresh, so I think that also could have had something to do with it. But he went into every challenge with full power. He was really switched on and hard to deal with."
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