Going into tomorrow’s game, it would be fair to say Neil Lennon has a decision to make as to who he starts in goals, after Scott Bain’s impressive performance on Thursday night and £5 million men, Vasilis Barkas returning from injury.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has weighed in on the argument, writing in his weekly column for the Daily Record, stating that it would be ‘unjust’, if Bain was to be dropped from the side, on Sunday at Hampden Park.
“Scott Bain did himself a power of good in goal. Managing to save the penalty which Duffy conceded was impressive and he couldn’t be blamed for the two goals which were lost.
“Neil made it clear he wanted someone better last summer when he went out and signed Fraser Forster when Bain was there. He did the same by signing Vasilis Barkas for £5million.
“But price tags don’t guarantee you starts. And, after that game in Lille, it would be unjust if Bain lost his place for the semi-final.”
Since joining the club from AEK Athens in the summer, Barkas has faced some criticism from sections of the support, despite not putting a foot wrong.
Strangely, he hasn’t had much to do in net, in terms of big saves and the only goal he could be criticised for is Rangers opener in the Glasgow Derby a few weeks back.
He found himself on the bench on Thursday, after returning to the squad due to him picking up a shoulder injury, which also saw him miss out at Aberdeen last week.
This allowed Bain to step in and prove his worth and to be fair to him he put in a good performance in Lille, making several good saves and also saving a penalty.
I think it would be harsh for him to lose his spot this weekend, after a good performance during the week, so I would expect Neil Lennon will think the same and do as Sutton mentions, by starting Bain in net at Hampden on Sunday.
Now that is good we have two keepers that will push each other on all the better for Celtic.