Celtic fans can catch a glimpse of their side in action for the first time ahead of the 2024-25 campaign when they face Ayr United in a pre-season friendly on Friday.
The match has been organised to mark the official opening of the new North Stand at Somerset Park following a £2million refurbishment which has increased the stadium capacity by 500. Over 9,000 tickets have been sold for the fixture that will see ex-Celtic captain, Scott Brown, now manager of Ayr, take on his former Parkhead boss Brendan Rodgers.
Celtic have yet to make a new signing this summer – so there will be no new faces for supporters to cast an eye over – but there may be an unfamiliar look to the starting line-up due to a number of first-team regulars being unavailable.
Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers are at the Copa America with Canada and USA respectively, while Scotland internationals Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor, Anthony Ralston and James Forrest have all been given extra time to recover from the Euros.
With Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Luis Palma also returning late after featuring for Japan and Honduras last month, this could open the door to a handful of fringe players and youngsters to be given a chance to impress against the Championship side ahead of the new season.
Here is our predicted Celtic starting XI to face Ayr United:
9. Nicolas Kuhn
The January arrival from Rapid Vienna lost his place to James Forrest towards the end of last season but the German-born winger will look to hit the ground running ahead of the new campaign. Photo: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group
10. Hyun-jun Yang
The Korean winger showed glimpses of his potential in his first season at Celtic and will look to kick on this term. Photo: Craig Foy - SNS Group
11. Kyogo Furuhashi
Celtic's top scorer from the past two seasons with 34 and 20 goal tallies will be looking to make it three-in-a-row this term. Photo: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group