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No Ledley for Hoops

Joe Ledley has ruled himself out of Celtic’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday.

The Hoops midfielder, who picked up an ankle knock against Atletico Madrid at Parkhead on Wednesday night, revealed on his Twitter account today that he is still waiting on the results of a scan and will miss the trip to Tayside.

Manager Neil Lennon hopes midfielder Victor Wanyama will have recovered from a dead leg while Badr El-Kaddouri is back after being cup-tied for the game against Atletico.

Provisional squad: Forster, Matthews, El-Kaddouri, Majstorovic, Loovens, Mulgrew, Forrest, Wanyama, Hooper, Kayal, Ki, Stokes, Brown, Samaras, Zaluska, Bangura, McCourt, McGeouch, Filip Twardzik.


Dylan McGeouch aiming to build on explosive debut

Dylan McGeouch has revealed his delight at his home debut wondergoal and now aims to keep his place in the Celtic starting eleven.

The young midfielder marked a memorable appearance by scoring in the 5-0 rout of St Mirren at Celtic Park last weekend. The 18-year-old picked up the ball in his own half and ghosted past several Buddies players before slotting the ball into the net.

The youngster has now set his sights on on becoming a regular feature of Neil Lennon's plans.

He said: "It's a great challenge. There are so many good players here, and it's a big squad filled with international players.

"He (Neil Lennon) has given a chance to James Forrest, who has taken his chance and come through. If you do well in games and in training then the manager has shown he's not scared of flinging the young boys in.

"You need a manager to stick by you and take a chance and a lot of young boys in Scotland are doing that right now."

The midfielder also spoke about keeping a level head as he aims to make his mark on the game, particularly after such an explosive start to his Celtic career.

He continued: "Playing football is the main priority. Once you start believe it (the hype) then the football gets slack.

"It's good to do well but you need to keep your feet on the ground and the hard work starts now."

Despite scoring what may well be the goal of the season, McGeouch said that he had been getting some light hearted ribbing from his team-mates.

He said: "I don't know if the goal was a one off, it was just something that happened in the game. Next time I might pass it!"

"I had a bit of banter with my team-mates because they were saying I should have passed it. They were giving me a bit of stick."

The 18-year-old also revealed that he had received congratulations from some of his former colleagues at Rangers. McGeouch spent three years at youth level with the Ibrox club before switching back to his boyhood heroes earlier this year.

He concluded: "A few of the boys texted me saying congratulations. I've got a good relationship with some of those guys. They wished me good luck."


Brown still happy to sign new Celtic deal despite canceling talks – Lennon

Celtic boss Neil Lennon is remaining confident that captain Scott Brown will sign a new contract despite again stalling on talks.

The Hoops skipper’s future is still clouded after his representatives canceled negotiations set for next week leaving him free to speak to other clubs.

Although Lennon feels that Brown could experience the wrath of the Celtic supporters if he continues to hold off contract talks, he is convinced he will scribble on the dotted line to extend his Parkhead tenure.

"If he decides not to sign, he might get an adverse reaction from some of the supporters,” said Lennon.

"Until that comes, I think the fans are right behind him.

"The club was due to meet his representatives on Tuesday, but they had to cancel.

"I have spoken to Scott and he says there has been no contact with any other clubs. He also said he is quite happy to stay and sign a contract.

"He can talk to other clubs now and we can't stop him from doing that but I am not convinced he will. I certainly don't get the impression he is leaving.

"He has told me he wants to stay and we have put the contract in front of him.

"There is just this matter of getting the problem sorted out and it has dragged its heels a little bit. I think it will be resolved the way we want it to be."