Hibs v Celtic: Preview

I'm going to be covering Sunday's game for the "Journal" newspaper, which some of you might have seen around Edinburgh. This is as much an attempt to get my thoughts straight in advance of the game as it is a serious attempt at a preview, so please excuse my ramblings...

Both sides come into this weekend's match on the back of mid-week fixtures, although Hibs' 3-0 win over Brechin at Easter Road hardly bears comparison with Celtic's controversial defeat at The Emirates Stadium.

Wednesday's match did, though, allow Hibs to maintain their unbeaten start to the season, and indeed to build upon a run of five matches without defeat, stretching back to pre-season encounters with English Premiership sides Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers. The Hibs attack has looked sharp in that period, manging to find the target eight times, with the concession of only two goals in response being just as pleasing. Derek Riordan, in particular, has looked far more like the Deek of old, and not the slightly chubby bloke who returned to Hibs from Celtic. His free-kick against Falkirk would surely have received the attention it deserved, had it not been for the sudden and wholly unexpected glut of Ronaldo-esque goals that have chosen to grace the early weeks of the Scottish season, and it can surely only be Riordan's off-field issues which have conspired to keep him out of George Burley's Scotland squad.

Celtic, meanwhile, welcome Steven McManus back into their squad this weekend; the defender having laughed off the frankly ludicrous suggestion that he swap Celtic Park, European football and playing in front of 55 000 every other week for, well...Ipswich Town, and recovered from an injury to take his place among the first team squad at Celtic. Former Hibs stars Scott Brown and Gary Caldwell will also be among the Celtic squad this weekend, with both likely to start the match. Caldwell in particular will be determined to shake off a start to the season in which he has all but changed his name to Jona, while Scott Brown, habitually competitive, has resembled something close to a Tasmanian Devil on his previous visits to Easter Road in Celtic colours. This will no doubt continue tomorrow, and Hibs' diminutive midfield trio of Cregg, Rankin and McBride will have their work cut out as they try to contain Brown's infectious energy, alongside the ever-willing Landry N'Guemo in the heart of the Celtic midfield.

The most interesting side-bar to this Sunday's match will be the return of Tony Mowbray to Easter Road. Mowbray created the best Hibs team for many years during his time in Leith, bringing through the likes of Derek Riordan, Gary O'Connor, Steven Whitaker, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Steven Fletcher, while also giving a platform to players such as Ivan Sproule and David Murphy. Mowbray got Hibs playing what those of the green-and-white persuasion like to call "the Hibs way", and for this he will no doubt receive a standing ovation this Sunday.

With so many ex-Hibs favourites returning to the ground this Sunday, it promises to be a keenly contested encounter.