John Kennedy reckons impressive Reo Hatate has returned at the ideal time for Celtic after he stood out against Livingston.

The midfielder last started a game for the Hoops back in October but was excellent for the club in their 3-0 victory yesterday afternoon. Hatate had a big hand in the first goal and showed what the club have been missing with his key passes and eye for goal. For Kennedy it was a masterstroke from manager Brendan Rodgers to keep him caged until this weekend as his comeback is at the right time with Rangers coming next weekend.

And the assistant boss was clear in his praise for the 26-year-old’s talents. “He was on it right from the first minute and he has been in training, which is why the gaffer thought to get him in the team quickly,” Kennedy said. “He’s been terrific the last few weeks. He came back in good condition and worked really hard. We had the game last week to give him some minutes and he was really good, so it was time to unleash him. I think you can see what he brings to the team.”

The assistant added: “I think that’s always the case with your best players. He’s shown that, in terms of big games and big performances. He’s obviously not fully up to speed, but I think we can see that he’s in pretty good condition and it’s just the confidence he brings to the team as well.

“He plays with that composure. Even on a difficult pitch, you can see how he brings a calmness to the game. He sees the passes which the front players thrive on and he gives us a slightly different dynamic.

“It’s important to have him back. It’s just about getting him through the week now, getting him that extra bit fitter going into next week. Even when he came off, Paulo [Bernardo] came on, gave us a bit of buzz and got his goal.”

“I’ll be honest,” says Michael Stewart when assessing which team, Celtics or Rangers, has a stronger roster for the championship game.

Michael Stewart has shared who he believes has the strongest squad for the title run-in as Celtic prepare to face Livingston this afternoon.

Celtic will be looking to reclaim the top spot in the Scottish Premiership with an away win against David Martindale’s side after Rangers’ 3-1 win over Hibs at Ibrox yesterday.

Brendan Rodgers will be missed in the Celtic dugout this afternoon as he serves his one-match SFA ban but for the players, it will just be business as usual.

They know that anything but a win is essential to keep Celtic in the title race driving seat and with key players returning from injury and improving their form, this will be a huge boost for Rodgers as we get into the business end of the season.

It was this that prompted a discussion between Kenny McIntyre and Michael Stewart on BBC Radio Scotland on who out of Celtic and Rangers has the strongest squad as the title race heads towards its climax.

Michael Stewart says Celtic are stronger than Rangers

The outspoken BBC pundit is generally very fair with his analysis and comments regardless of which team he is speaking about and his verdict on why he thinks Rodgers’ side is stronger than Philippe Clement‘s is pretty bang on.

Stewart said [BBC Radio Scotland], “So if everybody’s fit, I’ll be honest it’s pretty much a toss of the coin. I would marginally go with Celtic and it would be down to the fact that the injured players they’ve got out are real.

“It’s like Kenny Miller talking before and he was absolutely spot on, Jack Butland, Tavernier, Goldson and Lundstram, they never get rotated. It would be like missing those guys for most of the season.

“That’s what Celtic have had with Hatate and Carter-Vickers, in particular, who have been missing, Callum McGregor over the last few weeks.

“They are the heartbeat of that team that has been missing. So I would marginally go for Celtic and that’s the biggest reason why they’ve had such a disrupted season their quality has been missing.”

Brendan Rodgers will be delighted that he is set to welcome McGregor back into the fold. There is no doubt the Celtic captain will be pivotal in his quest to retain the league title.

Hatate has been sorely missed as the Celtic manager has tried, and failed, to find a suitable player in his squad to fill the Japanese star’s boots since he was injured on international duty in February.

And as for Carter-Vickers, his role in the team is crucial. When he was out injured Celtic were clearly not as stable at the back and the fact we have only lost four domestic fixtures with him in the team over three seasons is a story in itself.

Today is a must-win game ahead of the Ibrox Glasgow Derby. Anything less puts undue pressure on Celtic for next weekend.

With the players that Rodgers has available to him, Celtic should pick up the three points at Livingston regardless of whether the Hoops boss is in the dugout or not.

Rangers manager Clement questions Jurgen Klopp over the hiring of the Celtic referee.

Rangers and Celtic have come to a mutual agreement to let larger numbers of away fans back into Old Firm derbies once again. Starting next season, about five per cent of the seats in their stadiums will be for visiting supporters for Scottish Premiership matches.

The two Glasgow giants had become embroiled in a row where each side regularly kept cutting down how many tickets the other team’s fans could receive for trips to Ibrox and Celtic Park.

This started when Steven Gerrard became the boss of Rangers in 2018. Before then, more than 7,000 fans from the opposing team could enjoy the atmosphere of the white-hot derbies.

But lately, there haven’t been any away fans at the games. Supporter safety has been cited as the primary reason for the lack of away fans. Celtic rejected 700 tickets for a game at Ibrox earlier this season.

The lack of away supporters has diminished the neutral appreciation of the Old Firm derby as one of the best football games to watch in Europe.

SPFL rules only said that home teams should let a “reasonable” number of away fans come to league games. But now, the league’s decision-makers have stepped in and helped fix the problem after discussions between the clubs and the police.

The SPFL announced on Friday: “Following engagement with both clubs, the SPFL is pleased to confirm that Rangers FC and Celtic FC will provide ticket allocations of around 5 per cent for away supporters, for SPFL matches between the two clubs.”

They also said: “It does not affect the remaining two league matches between the clubs in season 2023/24, which will remain at a zero allocation for away supporters.”

With Ibrox having 50,817 seats and Celtic Park 60,411, this means about 2,540 Celtic fans and 3,020 Rangers fans can go to away games in the future.

Rangers shared that this decision came after talks with everyone involved, including the SPFL, local authorities, and TV companies.

Their statement included: “While this will not affect the two remaining league derbies this season, from next season, both clubs will be required to provide five per cent of their stadia to the away team for Old Firm games only – mirroring the UEFA European match model.”

Rangers also said: “Rangers’ position has always been for away supporters to be present at these games, and with this move, a significant number of our fans will be able to support our team at Parkhead in seasons ahead.”

Yang Will Be Miss South Korea’s Olympic Qualifiers During Celtic’s Championship Match

Yang Hyun-jun is set to miss South Korea’s qualifiers for the upcoming summer Olympics amid Celtic’s ongoing title fight.

As he is under 23, the winger is eligible to play at the Olympics and could have been involved in his nation’s qualifiers for the tournament in Qatar next month. It is not listed in FIFA’s official international calendar, though, and thus, Celtic has no obligation to release Yang.

He therefore won’t play in the qualifiers and rather, the 21-year-old will stay with his club ahead of the run-in (The Scottish Sun). Yang may well feature in the finals tournament – which runs from July 24 to August 1 – if South Korea qualify, meaning he would miss the beginning of the 2024/25 season for Celtic.

At the minute, however, such an issue is a worry for another day. Brendan Rodgers has bigger fish to fry, and having Yang locked in going into the final weeks of the season and not having another unavailability will give him peace of mind.

Although Nicolas Kuhn is coming into form on the right-hand side, Yang was on a sharp upturn before his red card at Tynecastle a few weeks ago.

The gaffer of South Korea’s under-23s is having to come up with a contingency plan in his absence. He said: [The Scottish Sun] “I will have a final meeting with the staff, but this is a difficult part.

“We need to come up with an alternative. I am also thinking about plan B.”

Liel Abada on his “wonderful” time in the Celtics and what made the spell difficult

Liel Abada is ready for a new adventure but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten the “amazing” time he had at Celtic.

The Israeli winger left his homeland aged 19 when the Hoops paid Maccabi Petah Tikva £3.5million for his services in 2021. He went on to be a roaring success for them, chipping in with a very healthy record of goals and assists from the wing and being named PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year for 2021/22.

Two league titles, two league cups and a Scottish Cup is a decent trophy haul too. Things weren’t as plain sailing towards the end of his stay though with the Celtic support’s backing of Palestine in their conflict with Israel making things awkward for him with people in his homeland questioning why he would continue to play for him.

Manager Brendan Rodgers explained Abada was not available for selection because his head was not in the right place amid the controversy and eventually Charlotte FC shelled out a record fee to take the 22-year-old to MLS.

He’s yet to appear for his new club but played for his country as they lost out to Iceland in a Euro 2024 play-off.

And before he flew back out to the States, he was quizzed by Israeli press on his move and also his time in Glasgow.

He told Sport 1: “It was really not easy being far away, but I had time with my family and friends now to see everyone. I had an amazing time at Celtic and now my head is on a new journey.

“I hope I can represent the country with respect. I had some time now with family and friends and now I’m embarking on a new journey.”

On life at Charlotte, Abada added: “The feelings are very good. I’m waiting to get there and meet everyone and start my journey.”

Ex-Celtic man backs former teammate as Rangers receive major injury boost

The ex-teammate of a Celtic player has backed him to have an impact upon his return from injury – meanwhile, Rangers have been handed a major boost.

Celtic’s kit sales with Adidas have given the club a place in the top 20 according to UEFA.

With their licencing powers there can be little doubt about the result which is contained in a substantial UEFA report titled The European Club Fiance and Investment Landscape for 2022.

As with most of these lists and tables clubs from the big five nations dominate with Barcelona edging Real Madrid into top spot followed by Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

UEFA acknowledges the dominance of their big five leagues with Celtic described as a traditionally well supported club alongside Ajax, Leeds United, Eintracht Frankfurt and Turkish sides Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Winning the Europa League helped lift Eintracht into 19th place.

Celtic and Adidas have produced five kits this season with little sign of demand wavering, this is the fourth season of the five year kit deal.

The table puts Celtic in a strong negotiating position for their next kit deal, Adidas will be keen to retain that contract while other manufacturers will be well aware of the almost guaranteed sales.

Nike and Puma are the other manufacturers in the top 20 with the table listing Celtic’s kit deal as bringing in  €34m which equates to £29.1M.

Injury problems mount up for Rangers with 7 on the sidelines as Celtic title race heats up

Just as Celtic close in on getting their strongest players available and back on the pitch, injury problems are reportedly mounting up across the city.

As discussed this morning, Chris Sutton feels that Brendan Rodgers could soon get his best eleven back playing together ahead of a critical period in the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.

Reo Hatate played a bounce game during the international break and Callum McGregor is expected to return quite quickly too.

With Cameron Carter-Vickers getting back to 100% and Kyogo again involved heavily, Celtic are have their trophy-winning core ready for the big push for silverware.

Celtic and Rangers title race heats up

In contrast, The Daily Record reports that Ridvan Yilmaz is the latest injury concern for Rangers after he limped out of Turkey’s defeat to Hungary with a thigh complaint.

The paper says that Yilmaz is one of seven on the sidelines including Abdallah Sima, Oscar Cortes, Ryan Jack, Kieran Dowell and Danilo – all of whom are said to likely miss their first match after the break at least.

Yilmaz has played 28 times for his clubs this season and is firmly part of Philippe Clement’s plans, so losing him would be another big blow for them.

The Ibrox side face Hibernian at home next week before hosting Celtic. The Bhoys, of course, travel to Livingston ahead of that massive derby in Govan.

If Celtic manage to win both matches – having already won in West Lothian and at Ibrox this season – they’ll be at least four points ahead before Rangers play their game in hand away to Dundee the following mid-week.

Rodgers getting his strongest players on the pitch with few injury problems could be a key factor in these closing weeks. Especially if rivals are flagging.

Alexandro Bernabei reveals the Celtic quality he ‘really lacked’ as one Parkhead factor catches attention

Former Celtic midfielder Peter Grant doesn’t think that Hoops striker Kyogo Furuhashi has ever dropped off amid recent claims that he is back to his best.

The frontman has two goals in his last two games, sparking many fans to believe that he has now returned to the dazzling form everyone knows he can hit.

Kyogo revealed on Monday morning that he isn’t afraid of failure amid his lack of inclusion in the recent Japan squad for the upcoming international break.

The fact that he had bagged just two goals in 2024 up until last weekend’s game against Livingston in the Scottish Cup contributed towards this and fairly led many to think he was not his usual self, but Grant disagrees.

He believes that the Japanese hitman is constantly lively and that a lack of service has been a key factor in his barren spell: “You were asking me earlier on about Kyogo being back, I don’t think he was away”, he said (Go Radio Football Show).

“If you put balls in the box, that guy will score goals.

“You have to service him, it’s ironic, the service he put in at the start of the second half was for Kuhn’s goal.

“The amount of times Kyogo is in that position for an early ball – that’s why I keep saying about putting the crosses in.

“It’s common sense for me. If you put the balls in, these guys have got the quality to finish and Kyogo proved that at the weekend.”

There has been a noticeable change in Celtic’s attacking play over the past few weeks. The Hoops look much more lively in forward areas, whipping balls into the box and registering several shots on goal.

Such trends must continue if silverware is to be secured come the end of May.