Auchinleck Talbot v Celtic: Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

Celtic’s fourth round Scottish Cup tie this evening is ‘away’ to Auchinleck Talbot from the West of Scotland League Premier.

After discussions with Police Scotland and other relevant agencies the decision was made to move the tie to Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park.

That decision wasn’t popular with the Talbot fans but they have set that disappointment aside and will make the journey up to Kilmarnock in their thousands this afternoon.

With the Celtic allocation of over 7000 tickets already sold out this looks like being the biggest attendance at Rugby Park since the empty seats policy was introduced restricting the travelling support of Celtic and theRangers to one stand rather than two and in doing so showing that Kilmarnock have more plastic seats than supporters.

The West of Scotland Premier League side are renowned for their cup upsets having knocked out Ayr United in 2019 and Hamilton back in 2021 but Celtic are certainly their biggest challenge to-date.

Whatever happens this afternoon Auchinleck Talbot’s finances will be boosted considerably having beaten Dumbarton away in the third round of the Scottish Cup before Christmas.

A proper Celtic manager’s view

Martin O’Neill reflected on his own mixed fortunes in the Scottish Cup earlier in the week when speaking to the mainstream media – the club’s ban on Celtic fan media continues. It wasn’t that when the calls for favours would regularly be made. Short flaming memories.

Martin said: “Some good and some bad, obviously winning it a few times, which is great. I’m looking forward to the game immensely, I’ve watched them now, so we’ve got to be really careful. They have some very, very decent attributes, they are a top-quality Junior side, no question about it, and they’ve got players who have played as well.”

Imagine we were going into this game with Nancy still in charge. It would have been terrifying.

Celtic Team News

The manager will have one one on what’s to come next week with Bologna FC 1909 at their Renato Dall’Ara on Thursday evening (early kick-off) in the Europa League then Hearts – who exited the Scottish Cup to Falkirk at Tynecastle yesterday afternoon – away next Sunday. Three wins in a week would really put Celtic’s season back on track.

Martin hinted that any new signings would arrive this week so as to be ready for Tynecastle but in the meantime he has to think carefully about his side for today, having recalled he defeat at Inverness just a few days after being Liverpool at Anfield on the road to Seville back in 2023. Rotating the squad cost Martin dearly that day and he may be cautious today as a result?

Today is a perfect chance to see Viljami Sinisalo in goals and also to give Kasper Schmeichel a rest ahead of Bologna and Hearts. Colby Donovan could get a start at right back with the first picks Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Kieran Tierney all starting.

The Celtic captain Callum McGregor will be joined by Paulo Bernardo and Michel-Ange Balikwisha in midfield with the 24 year-old summer signing from Royal Antwerp moving to  the ten role in the team as the manager reckons that he is definitely not a winger. World class from Nicholson & Co spending £5m on a winger who isn’t actually a winger. Pretty sure we have posted an article from his old coach saying Balikwisha’s best position is as a No9.  he needs a performance today to kickstart his Celtic career. 

James Forrest could come into the team on the right wing with Sebastian Tounekti, who played well on Kilmarnock’s plastic pitch on his debut, playing on the left with Johnny Kenny through the middle, looking for a few goals to restore some confidence after a barren spell in recent weeks.

Predicted Celtic Team 

So our predicted Celtic team is as follows:

Celtic XI: Sinisalo; Donovan, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor (c), Bernardo, Balikwisha; Forrest, Kenny and Tounekti

Celtic Bench: Schmeichel; Araujo, Murray, Ralston, Nygren, McCowan, Engels, Hatate, Yang, Shin. 

Match Officials 

Ross Hardie is the referee for this afternoon’s Scottish Cup tie between Auchinleck Talbot and Celtic. Hardie will be assisted by Calum Spence and Alastair Taylor running the lines and the VAR team will be lead by Chris Graham assisted by Andrew Dallas.

Kick Off Time

The Scottish Cup 4th Round match between Auchinleck Talbot and Celtic FC  kicks off at 17:30 (Celtic Park Time). The match will be played at Kilmarnock FC’s BBSP Stadium aka Rugby Park.

Where to Watch

The game will be shown on Premier Sports 1 for subscribers with coverage from Ayrshire beginning at 17:15. Celtic TV subscribers outside Britain and Ireland will be able watch the build up fifteen minutes before kickoff. Scottish cup highlights will be shown on Sportscene on BBC One Scotland at 10.30pm this evening. 

Predicted Score

Auchinleck Talbot will look to be strong at the back and to restrict Celtic’s goalscoring opportunities. The first goal will be crucial and maybe Johnny Kenny will take his chance to get some efforts into the back of the next? Celtic should come away with a 3-0 victory with a couple of goals coming later in the game as Talbot legs tire.

No predictions on bookings from us! Celtic are ‘unbetable’ if not unbeatable at an incredible 1/25 with various bookmakers. For anyone at Auchinleck Talbot who likes a bet then their team is available at 60/1 while the draw is on offer around 28/1.

Should the match end all square after 90 minutes then extra time or subsequent penalties will decide which side goes into the next round of the Scottish Cup.

Enjoy the match.

COYBIG!

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