THE FUTURE BEGINS NOW: A CELTIC-KILMARNOCK PREVIEW

CELTIC V KILMARNOCK (SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP: SATURDAY 8TH APRIL 2017; 3:00PM)

Celtic play their first game since Brendan Rodgers committed his long term future to the club at home to Kilmarnock.

Team Selection: It's hard to tell if any of the injured players are back, as today's regular press conference was replaced with the announcement of the manager's new contract. Moussa Dembele is back in training so he may well feature at some stage. Tom Rogic should be line for his first start since December, and Brown, Tierney and Boyota will perhaps return after being rested against Partick on Wednesday. With only this game and next week's against Ross County before the Scottish Cup semi-final, it would make sense to play most if not all of our strongest side.

Previous Meetings: The first meeting of the season, at Celtic Park in September, saw Celtic turn in one of our best performances in the league, hammering Killie 6-1. After a wonder goal by Coulibaly gave Killie the league, Celtic responded in style with goals from Sinclair, Forrest, Griffiths and Rogic and a brace from Dembele.

The second meeting, at Rugby Park in November, was a much closer affair, Celtic winning 1-0 with a goal by Stuart Armstrong after a nice pass from Dembele. Celtic went 13 points clear that night, we've not looked back since.

Prediction: Backed by a no doubt buoyant crowd, I can see Celtic having a comfortable win, with the returning Tom Rogic grabbing a goal.

Celtic 3 Kilmarnock 0