YES, says Scott Mullen
YES, says Scott Mullen
RONNY DEILA has to go for goals on Thursday without John Guidetti, who has scored three times in his last two games.
Minutes before he got Celtic's second against St Mirren, Deila switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 formation, with Anthony Stokes joining Guidetti in attack.
While that partnership can't be recreated against Dinamo Zagreb, it allowed more width and space behind for Callum McGregor to exploit and saw Stokes provide an assist for the clinching goal. But the Irishman hasn't been in scoring form and can't be expected to suddenly strike gold in a must-win game.
The Celtic manager's problem should not be whether to play two up front, but who to play.
Stokes will almost definitely start, with Stefan Scepovic the favourite to link up with him.
But the Serbian looked like a fish out of water in Paisley where Leigh Griffiths - who struck up a decent understanding with Stokes last season - didn't even make the squad.
NO, says Michael Grant
WHEN it was clear to Ronny Deila that Celtic weren't really getting anywhere in Paisley he was astute enough to make the telling change.
John Guidetti needed support in attack and when Anthony Stokes was moved up alongside him the shape changed to 4-4-2 and Celtic started worrying St Mirren far more.
But Dinamo Zagreb aren't St Mirren. Deila cannot risk being overrun in midfield in the Europa League tie and should revert to 4-2-3-1 on Thursday night.
Without the ineligible Guidetti he'll have a hard enough job finding one impressive frontman, let alone two. Stokes's scoring record in Europe is awful and Stefan Scepovic has shown next to nothing so far. The Serb will surely get better as his match sharpness improves.
Deila must put his faith in Scepovic to lead the line alone with Stokes, Kris Commons and Callum McGregor behind him. A place for Leigh Griffiths on the bench would also be welcome.
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