Brendan Rodgers intends to nurture his Celtic squad through the next few weeks so that they are in the “best possible place” for the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen later this month.
The Hoops have already tied up the William Hill Premiership title and with Sunday’s Old Firm derby out of the way, the manager plans to rest some key men and give others game time in the remaining three league matches before his side bid to seal the final leg of a domestic treble at Hampden on May 24.
Canadian right-back Alistair Johnston missed the 1-1 draw at Ibrox due to a hip issue that needs attention, while centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers is another set to be taken out of the firing line due to a hamstring niggle.
“Our idea is to get to the cup final in the best possible place that we can in terms of the availability of players and players getting some minutes,” said Rodgers.
“We’ll probably have the likes of Carter-Vickers coming out for maybe a couple of games. He’s been playing with a little bit of an issue that he can get some sort of injection on that will make it right. I would think he’ll maybe miss a couple of games.
“He’ll be back for the St Mirren game (on the last day) and get fit and ready for the cup final, a wee bit like Ali Johnston. Some of the other guys will get opportunities and get minutes but with the same ambition and desire to win games.
“Our priority, of course, is all the games, but we have a Scottish Cup final, so that’s the big priority, to get the players ready for that.”
While Jota is facing nine months out with cruciate ligament damage sustained against Dundee United, Rodgers hopes fellow winger Nicolas Kuhn – who missed the Ibrox clash – will return against Hibernian on Saturday.
“Hopefully next week he’ll be okay,” said the manager. “He had a bash on his knee when he came off at Dundee United. He hadn’t trained so much all week.
“He was out with the medical team and the rehab team. We gave him a go (on Saturday), but he had a bruise on his knee which the scan showed up so we’re hopeful that by the weekend he should be fine.”
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who has been out since late March, is continuing his battle to recover from a shoulder injury in time for the final.
“Kasper is just ongoing day-to-day,” said Rodgers. “We’ll see how he is and we’ll see where he’s at over the next week or so.”
Rodgers said it will be “pretty straightforward” to keep his team motivated for their last three league games against Hibs, Aberdeen and St Mirren.
“I do think we still have a lot to play for, we have some targets that we want to achieve in terms of goals and wins and everything else,” said Rodgers. “But ultimately, we want to arrive into the cup final in a good place.
“It will be pretty straightforward. There’s no free passes at Celtic. But what it does give me the chance to do is to play some players and get them some minutes and keep the squad fresh and ready for the final.”
