CELTIC return to action this Sunday with a trip to Livingston and a Premiership clash on their plastic pitch. It’s a quick turnaround following Thursday night’s Europa League win over Cluj, a result which puts the Hoops top of Group E after two games.

The players were given a well-earned day off today (Friday) following their European exertions, but they report back to Lennoxtown tomorrow when Neil Lennon will assess the squad and formulate a plan for taking all three points against Livingston.

The Celtic manager was at the club’s training group day and while praising his players for producing an outstanding Europa League performance, he’s already analysing Sunday’s opponents.

“We’re enjoying basking in last night, and then getting back on it again in a short period of time to go and try to win the game,” he said, “and it’s important that we do win the game.

“We’ve got no reported injuries, so we’ve given them a day off and rest up because there’s very little recovery time between now and Sunday, but they’re all fine, as you can imagine. We’ll just have to assess tomorrow how they’re feeling, the body language, the fatigue element, obviously, from their exertions on Thursday night.

“The game is dangerous, and it’s a difficult tie. We played Livingston once there last season and drew 0-0, so we know that goalscoring opportunities sometimes are at a premium. We played on the plastic at Hamilton – we played well but only go the one goal, so it’s a game that’s fraught with potential difficulties.”

The Celtic boss has been utilising his squad, given the heavy fixture schedule, but he will wait until Saturday’s training session before deciding what, if any, changes he makes to the side which beat Cluj 2-0 on Thursday night.

Regardless of who he selects, however, the Irishman is confident that they will keep the team’s strong start to the Premiership campaign going.

“No matter who you play, you have to combat whatever style they produce,” he said. “I think Livingston are a great example of what clubs with a good spirit and who are well-organised, and with hungry players can do. They’re a real success story over the last few years.

“They had a great season last year, consolidated their position in the Premier League comfortably and they’ve made a decent start again.

“We’ve got players who’re wanting to play, which is great. They’re champing at the bit. Again, I’ve not really given it much deliberation on what the team selection is going to be. We’ll have more of an idea about that tomorrow. We’ll analyse Livingston today and take a view on it from there.

“But it’s too early to say whether we’ll change the team, but we may make one or two changes, just to freshen it up.

“The majority of the players have played recently. We used the squad last week against Partick Thistle to great effect, and we only made one or two changes for the Cluj game. we brought Elyounoussi and Elhamed back in, so we’ve rotating the squad as best we can and trying our best to keep all them all bubbling and fresh and sharp for the volume of games.

“And it’s important we win it because there’s a two-week break coming up as well so, psychologically, it would be good to go into the break with another win.”

Manager: Players are ready to go again after Euro exertions