CELTIC boss Martin O'Neill has said his Celtic side can't afford to take anyone lightly as his side prepare to host bottom club Livingston tonight looking to close the gap on league leaders Hearts.
The Jambos opened up a nine-point gap between themselves and third-placed Celtic following their late Edinburgh derby win over Hibs on Tuesday.
Three points then is a must for the Hoops if they are to keep the pressure on the league leaders and second-placed Rangers in the title race.
Despite that, O'Neill showed in Saturday's extra-time win over Dundee that he isn't averse to resting players as Celtic continue to fight on three fronts.
However, despite Livingston being without a win since August, O'Neill believed it would be a difficult game, with the Livi players looking to impress new boss Marvin Bartley.
"He [Bartley] has stepped in there but I just think it's a difficult game for us anyway," said the Celtic boss.
"It's not just a matter of saying it, it is absolutely [a difficult game].
"I like our team, I thought we showed plenty of character to fight back there on Saturday evening.
"It was really great but I don't think we're capable of taking anybody lightly.
"If we do, we shouldn't be doing it because we're not good enough to treat people like that."
Scares
Livingston have lost their last 10 meetings with Celtic, with their last win over the Hoops coming at Almondvale in September 2021.
However, despite their woes this season, with only one league win so far, Livi gave Celtic a scare during Wilfried Nancy's ill-fated reign.
Livingston scored twice in the opening 10 minutes either side of a Benjamin Nygren goal during the game at Almondvale in December before the Hoops eventually secured a 4-2 win.
Meanwhile, Celtic needed an equaliser through Junior Adamu's last kick of the game in normal time to force extra time against Dundee in their Scottish Cup meeting at Celtic Park on Saturday.
Sebastian Tounekti's goal at the start of the additional period was enough to see Celtic progress but it served as a warning of the dangers of resting players.
Rested trio Kasper Schmeichel, Daizen Maeda and Kelechi Iheanacho are likely to be back in the squad tonight, while top scorer Benjamin Nygren could return to the starting line-up.
O'Neill also revealed that Kieran Tierney was in line to feature despite sustaining a broken nose against Dundee, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could make his debut.
Busy schedule
Celtic have a two-legged Europa League play-off against Stuttgart to contend with later this month and have to fit in a rearranged league fixture against Aberdeen after the weather forced last Wednesday's game at Pittodrie to be called off.
Drawing Rangers away in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals also sees the Hoops face four consecutive away games in 10 days in the coming weeks against the Ibrox side (twice), Stuttgart and the Dons.
With games piling up for Celtic, O'Neill's hand may be forced into using his squad sparingly.
"I think I said at the end of the day [after the Dundee game] that I wondered if that was completely wise or not [to rest players] but anyway, we got through it," said the manager.
"It's just the number of games, it is a matter that there'll be some sort of rotation.
"I think it's a tall order to ask them. If you're taking about, in the next week or two, four games in 10 days, I think that's difficult for everyone."
Celtic's Scottish Premiership clash with Livingston at Celtic Park kicks off at 7.45pm GMT.
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