Liam Scales will miss Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren on Sunday at Hampden after collecting too many yellow cards in previous rounds, forcing Martin O’Neill to reshuffle a back line already under strain.
O’Neill said he had “lots of confidence” in Benjamin Arthur and Dane Murray, and indicated that Auston Trusty will shift to the left because he has “two right-footers.” That opens the door for a possible central partnership of Arthur and Trusty in celtic vs. st. mirren, a matchup Celtic enter having beaten St Mirren 1-0 last weekend.
The loss of Scales matters because defence has been a struggle point for Celtic this season, and Cameron Carter-Vickers has been out for most of it. That has forced O’Neill to keep leaning on combinations that have not had much time together, with Sunday’s tie at Hampden carrying no room for hesitation.
For Celtic, the question is no longer whether the back four will change. It is whether a reshaped defence can hold up in a semi-final after a narrow league win over the same opponent, with a place in the cup final depending on how quickly O’Neill’s new pairing settles in.
