Celtic May Have Beaten Hearts If They Had Shankland, Claims Pundit

Falkirk midfielder and pundit Stephen McGinn – brother of John – has claimed that Celtic may have beaten Hearts last Sunday if they had Lawrence Shankland in their team.

Early on in the game, Yang Hyun-jun was brought down in the box and the Hoops were given a penalty. Adam Idah stepped up and was denied by Zander Clark, though.

The Irishman squandered the opportunity to put The Bhoys ahead but if Shankland had taken the spot-kick, things may have turned out differently according to McGinn: “He scored, one offside and one on, two unbelievable goals”, he said (Go Radio Football Show).

“You look at the big two [Celtic and Rangers] and they are coming out and moaning about decisions, imagine Lawrence Shankland was playing for one of those teams at the weekend.

“He’d have scored the penalty for Celtic, there is no doubt he’d have hit the ball hard.”

Brendan Rodgers has regularly praised Shankland. The gaffer has raved about his abilities and admitted he was on his radar when he was first Celtic manager.

At 28, the Scotland internationalist is in the midst of his peak years. He has bagged 20 or more goals in back-to-back Scottish Premiership seasons and always seems to come up trumps against the Hoops.

A quality striker, Shankland would undoubtedly make a difference at Parkhead. With the chances The Bhoys create, he would be guaranteed to score plenty of goals in green and white.