Wilfried Nancy has admitted he’s still figuring out his strongest Celtic XI as he prepares for Sunday’s League Cup Final against St Mirren, just a week into the job and off the back of two damaging defeats.
The new Hoops boss made no changes to the starting line-up that lost to Hearts when selecting his team to face Roma on Thursday, despite warning signs from the previous performance.
However, a triple substitution at half-time, introducing Kelechi Iheanacho, Paulo Bernardo and Colby Donovan, brought improved energy and structure.
All three made a positive impact, and Nancy now has a major selection call to make ahead of the Hampden showdown.
“I wanted to do more rotation, to be honest with you,” Nancy said to Celtic TV.
“But again, I am in between. You know, regarding that a few players didn’t play a lot also the last six games. So I needed to balance a little bit that.
“So first of all is to watch properly the way they play. I know them, but the way they play. And after that, I will put the team that I think is the best to have a good performance against this team.”
Nancy has been working with the squad for just over a week, and the limitations of time and familiarity have been evident. His system remains in early stages of implementation, and a mix of injuries and recent arrivals has left him juggling options.
But there have been some promising signs in his football.
With a trophy on the line and expectations high, Sunday could be the moment Nancy settles on a more defined starting side or continues to experiment as he builds towards a clearer identity. Either way, he needs a winning team at Hampden.
