Celtic v Hibs preview: Defensive changes | Trio pushing for starts | Huge injury list

Managerless Hibs travel to Glasgow to play injury-ravaged champions Celtic in the Ladbrokes Premiership tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).

Martin Boyle scored for Hibs at Parkhead back in October - but the Australian misses out on this one due to a knee injury. Pic: SNS

League leaders Celtic have a swathe of players missing for the visit of Hibs, who are hoping to reignite their top six hopes after last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen at home.

The Hibees sit in seventh place, five points off the top six, although they are heavy outsiders to beat a Celtic side that has won all 12 of their home games this season in the league.

Brendan Rodgers’ men have won their last four league games without conceding, although they lost to Hibs back in December when the Easter Road side defeated them 2-0 in Edinburgh.

Celtic prevailed 4-2 when the teams last met at Celtic Park, with Florian Kamberi and Martin Boyle netting for the visitors.

Celtic team news: Defender Kristoffer Ajer is suspended after being sent off against St Johnstone last time out. James Forrest, Tony Ralston, Kieran Tierney, Filip Benkovic, Tom Rogic, Eboue Kouassi, Daniel Arzani and Leigh Griffiths are out for various reasons, while new striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo is still getting up to speed. Mikael Lustig and Odsonne Edouard are doubts after sustaining Achilles and foot injuries respectively, but Olivier Ntcham (hamstring) and Dedryck Boyata (abductor) have started back training. Right-back Jeremy Toljan is likely to make his debut at right-back, while Scott Bain is set to continue in goal ahead of Craig Gordon.

Possible Celtic team (4-2-3-1): Bain; Toljan, Bitton, Simunovic, Izaguirre; Brown, C McGregor; Burke, Christie, Sinclair; Weah. Subs from: Gordon, Boyata, Ntcham, Hayes, Johnston, Henderson.

Hibs team news: Caretaker boss Eddie May may turn to Darnell Johnson in defence after his team conceded twice against Aberdeen. The 20-year-old on-loan Leicester City defender was kept on the bench in that 2-1 defeat, but may come into the reckoning as Hibs try to keep the champions out. Centre-back Ryan Porteous has been ruled out for the season along with winger Martin Boyle – both with knee injuries – while Thomas Agyepong is working his way back from a hamstring injury. Fellow winger Daryl Horgan is still struggling with ankle injury picked up against St Mirren, but deadline-day signings Marc McNulty and Gael Bigirimana came off the bench against the Dons and are pushing for starting berths.

Possible Hibs team (4-1-3-2): Marciano; Gray, Johnson, Hanlon, Stevenson; Bigirimana; Slivka, Mallan, Gauld; Kamberi, McNulty. Subs from: Bogdan, Whittaker, Mackie, Nelom, D McGregor, Milligan, Bartley, F Murray, Shaw, Gullan, L Allan.

Referee: Craig Thomson takes charge of the clash at Celtic Park. His last Hibs match was a 0-0 draw with Rangers in December.

Magic number: Four – the number of goals Celtic have conceded at home in the league this season. Two of them have been scored by Hibs.

Key battle: Timothy Weah is likely to lead the forward line for Celtic and his pace has the potential to cause serious issues for Hibs. Paul Hanlon will need to make sure the lively American is not given the opportunity to get in behind the visitors’ back-line.

Odds: Celtic 2/7, Hibs 11/1, Draw 5/1.