Hoops Host Rovers in Cup Action... Again
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~



Jota was on target when Celtic defeated Raith 3-0 in the League Cup back in September

Celtic Park, Glasgow
Sunday, 13 February 2022
16.00 BST


Sunday's Scottish Cup Fifth Round match up at Celtic Park brings back a familiar foe - Raith Rovers.

This will be the second time this season that the Hoops have hosted the Fife side - the first being back in September in what was the League Cup Quarter-Final, which the Bhoys won comfortably, 3-0.​

Since then, things have only gotten better for the Hoops, including going on to lift the League Cup back in December, and have recently returned to the top of the table in the league. And now, attention once again turns back to Cup action. Scottish Cup action. Following the win over Alloa Athletic in the previous round, the Hoops will be looking to progress as they seek to reclaim the Scottish Cup, and notch up what would be the 9th consecutive win since Christmas.

The Hoops will be thankful to get back down the road to Glasgow, after a 3-2 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie, which has maintained their perfect start to 2022, but not before the Dons had made for a far from comfortable second half in that game.

But the result ensures that Ange Postecoglou's side keep up their winning ways, however, it should also have served as a bit of a warning against complacency, especially when they are apparently in cruise mode in the second half of games and not underestimate any team that they come up against, no matter the apparent form that any opponant - be it League, Cup or European - may be in.


The women's team and sponsor Val McDermid severed ties with Raith over the Goodwillie signing

Raith Making Headlines

The visitors from Kirkcaldy have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks, after what turned out to be a spectacular own-goal, when they signed striker David Goodwillie, who was adjudged to be a rapist in a 2017 civil court case, at the end of the January transfer window.

The controversy triggered a wide ranging backlash, with two directors immediately resigning in protest, various other long serving staff and volunteers also leaving, the loss of significant sponsorship, including famed author Val McDermid and Tag Gaming Developers cutting ties for next season as the respective home and away shirt sponsors, former PM, Gordon Brown, and other prominant supporters speaking out, season ticket holders walking away and the Womens and Girls teams disassociating themselves from the club entirely, among other actions.

The signing, which had been hoped would re-ignite the Fife club's aspirations of promotion, has overshadowed the efforts on the park. Although the club initially defended the signing, it has been revealed that a decision has been made to terminate the contract, with manager John McGlynn making a public apology - although whether the situation is recoverable after the damage done remains to be seen.

Raith are still well in contention of a play-off place, this has been precariously maintained only through splitting the points and drawing 5 of the last 6 games in the Championship, as wins have proven to be far more elusive over the past few months, and will need to dig much, much deeper if they are to get the better of Celtic for the first time since the 1994 League Cup Final.

Indeed, the match in the previous round of the Cup last month, over Banks O'Dee - a Juniors team from Aberdeen - remains the only win they've picked up since defeating Kilmarnock in the middle of December - and have only scored 7 goals since then, which in part prompted the ill-fated Goodwillie move in the first place.


Matt O'Riley and the Bhoys celebrate his first Celtic goal in another great first half display

A Tale of Two Halves

Celtic, as we have witnessed in recent weeks have been in superb form, especially in the first half of games, and while not on the same level, this has been true of Raith in their respective league campaign.

However, while Celtic have managed to maintain a 100% record in 2022 and indeed, have been undefeated domestically since the end of August, largely - but far from exclusively - from being able to capitalize on good first half performances and seeing it out to the end, the same cannot be said of the visitors from Fife in the Championship, who have one of the worst records in the top 4 divisions of Scottish Football when looking purely at the second half of games.

Indeed, to break that down even further, Rovers have the joint worst record in terms of goals conceded in the last 15 minutes and overall the single worst goal differential across all of the four SPFL divisions after the 75 minute mark.

Of course, this being a Cup game, league form can count for very little when anything can happen on the day - and has been known to go right out the window on occasion - so not too much can be taken at face value of this, but it is worth noting anyhow.​

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Team News​

Ange Postecoglou will have to balance team selection for this match as well as prepare the team for a return of European action next week, and since the return after the Winter Break, he has done a fine job when balancing the needs of the team with the rotating of the players while not having it effect the performances or results.

The Australian boss has revealed that Josip Juranovic missed the Aberdeen match through illness and likewise will be missing for the Raith match, meaning there will be a liikely start for Anthony Ralston. Additionally, Postecoglou mentioned that Christopher Jullien is also available for selection, and while side-stepping the question directly, it would appear that this weekend's game might be the ideal opportunity for the big French defender to make his return to first team action.

Meanwhile David Turnbull and Kyogo Furuhashi are both continuing their rehabilitation, and although neither will be available for some time still - Turnbull is expected back towards the end
of the month and Kyogo a week or two after that - it is still a good sign that there may be a full strength squad available for the final 3 months of the season, as the Hoops continue their quest for silverware on three fronts, to add to the League Cup already in the Celtic Park trophy cabinet.

As for the visitors, manager John McGlynn has confirmed that he expects Tom Lang to be out for the rest of the season and perhaps longer with what is believed to be an ACL injury, after the defender limped off during the first half in last weekend's 0-0 match against Hamilton Accies.

Head to Head

Overall
P:89 W:58 D:17 L:14

Last 5 Meetings
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2021/22 Form

Overall
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