Celtic Predicted XI: St. Johnstone (A)

Recovered from Thursday yet? Me neither. A bitterly disappointing Celtic side crashed out of the Europa League in brutal circumstances.

The wounds will take time to heal but, as captain Scott Brown and boss Neil Lennon said, we must keep our heads up and focus on our next game.

We’ll do exactly that when we face St. Johnstone in the Scottish Cup quarter-final in Perth on Sunday.

It’s fair to say our midweek performance raised a host of questions after full-time. Nothing seemed to click and the team just never found their rhythm, though going in goalless at half-time meant there was still hope of progression.

Copenhagen exposed our (many) weaknesses and we paid the price – there’s really not much else left to be said.

Domestic duty beckons and St. Johnstone are our opponents, with a place in the Scottish semi-final waiting.

For the Hoops, it’s all about bouncing back from a tough loss and taking one step closer to defending their cup crown, and McDiarmid Park could be the ideal venue to get things back on track.

Tommy Wright’s side haven’t actually scored a goal against the champions since November 2017; a remarkable run of nine games dry in front of goal. Five of those matches have been up in Perth, with Celtic scoring 16 goals.

It’ll be interesting to see who Lennon goes with from the start, who he might drop and if anyone will come in and be given a chance to prove their worth.

Here is our predicted Celtic XI.