Wilfried Nancy claims players and fans are the most important figures in Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren but admits victory would validate his fledgling project.
The Frenchman goes into the game at Hampden Park after a fraught first week in charge where he became the first Hoops manager to lose his opening two matches when Italian giants Roma won 3-0 at Parkhead in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Nancy began his tenure with a 2-1 home defeat to leaders Hearts in the Premiership last weekend and a more intense spotlight will be on the former Columbus Crew boss this weekend.
Asked how important the final was for him in terms of bringing the fans on board the Nancy bandwagon, he said: “For me, no. For my players, yes, and for the fans, yes, because like I said, you start to know me now.
“Yes, I would like to win the trophy. I’m pretty sure that if we don’t win it, it’s going to be difficult because when we lose, it is painful. But I am optimistic as a person, so hopefully we’re going to do it, and also it’s going to validate what we are doing.”
Here is all you need to know about the game.
When is Celtic v St Mirren?
The match kicks off at 3.30pm GMT today, Sunday 14 December, at Hampden Park.
How to watch
The game will be shown live on TV channel Premier Sports 1.
Team news
Celtic are missing Cameron Carter-Vickers, Callum Osmand, Alistair Johnston and Jota.
St Mirren will be without their captain, Mark O’Hara, with a foot injury. Declan John has a hamstring injury and Malik Dijksteel is also a doubt.
Predicted line-ups
St Mirren: George, Fraser, King, Freckleton, McMenamin, Gogic, Taylor, Phillips, Tanser, Ayunga, Mandron.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Donovan, Trusty, Scales, Yang, McGregor, Hatate, Maeda, Engels, Bernardo, Iheanacho.
