It’s not often you can reference heat when talking about January in Dingwall, but, hot on the heels of Celtic’s 4-1 win over Ross County on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers’ side are back in action tomorrow night (Tuesday). The destination this time is Dens Park where Tony Docherty’s Dundee side await the arrival of the champions with both sides going into the game on the back of good results. Since the turn of the year, only a last-gasp derby defeat to Dundee United has been the Dens Park team’s only blip of note. They ended 2024 with a 2-1 away win over St Mirren and, following the derby, they won 3-1 at St Johnstone before drawing 1-1 with Rangers less than a week ago. The Celtic manager said: “It’s always going to be a difficult game when you go there, probably not too dissimilar to our game at the weekend and I think Tony’s team will be tight and compact and low on the pitch. ‘You have to then get to work to break them down, if you can do that early then great, if not then you have to keep the patience and it may come like it did at the weekend late on.’ “I think Tony’s done an outstanding job since he’s been there, brought in some really good players, they all work and you can see they all play for him. “They’re only a few points off the top six, the last time out against Rangers they produced a good result. So we know, like in all of the games, we will really have to fight for the result.”As hinted at by the manager, Celtic’s patience and perseverance paid off in Dingwall with three of the four goals, and some of best play, coming in the later stages of the game. The substitutions made played their part in that, and, among them, was that of young Irishman, Johnny Kenny, who came on to make his Celtic debut after being on loan at Shamrock Rovers. The manager said: “I was delighted for Johnny. Obviously the young player has come in before, then he had to go away, and I hadn’t seen him before. “But, coming back in and speaking to the guys, yeh he looks a bit stronger than what he was before. “The one thing that I love with young players is the enthusiasm. Because, with enthusiasm there’s no expectation, they just come and play, and they come and run, and that’s what he gave when he came on to the pitch. “I would say the same thing to older players, as long as you maintain your enthusiasm for the game, then you just go and play – and Johnny did that when he came into the game. “Straightaway his contact and his touch with the ball was good, he was on the move. In the last goal he was there or thereabouts, that created the chaos in the box, and we finished well. “So, he’s come in, he’s only been in just over a week, we’ll continue to monitor him, he’ll be around it and then it’s down to the next decision – is he going to stay and be a part of it or does he still need more game-time on loan. “But at this moment I’ve been really pleased. He showed a wonderful enthusiasm for football, and to work, and he’s done really well. “And I can see, 25 yards in, he’s a really, really good finisher.” Watch the full video to see the manager on: Player availability The Ross County game Hyunjun Yang Adam Idah Kyogo Luis Palma Flexibility in the Squad The transfer window Kick-off times More on the game Cameron Carter-Vickers set for rapid return to action –
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