Celtic Fans Will Want To See Him – Ex-Striker Thinks Star Has Chance | OneFootball

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Former top-flight star Gordon Dalziel is of the view that Celtic’s new goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo has a great opportunity to prove himself against Hearts at the weekend and added that he is eager to know how Kasper Schmeichel’s absence will affect the Bhoys’ build-up play.

Celtic signed the 23-year-old goalkeeper from Premier League outfit Aston Villa in the summer as a backup for Schmeichel and he has featured only once, against Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup this season.

Schmeichel, who has been solid for Celtic between the sticks this season, suffered a shoulder injury during the international break and it is still unclear when he will be able to return to action.

Celtic are set to face Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday and it is Sinisalo who is now expected to start against the Jambos.

Dalziel highlighted that Schmeichel plays a huge role in the build-up from the back for Brendan Rodgers’ side and he added that he is interested to see how comfortable Sinisalo will be with the style of Celtic’s build-up play on Saturday.

The ex-top flight star believes that the game against Hearts will be a great opportunity for Sinisalo to prove himself because the Tynecastle outfit will not go easy on Celtic as their top six finish is on the line and thinks that Bhoys fans will also be eager to see how the Finnish goalkeeper performs.

“The thing I worry about is Schmeichel is such an important part of them; building up, he is brilliant”, Dalziel said on Open Goal (57:23).

“[Sinisalo] is an international. What is he, 23? He came for a million quid or whatever it may be, but [it is] a great opportunity for him, right?

“I think that’d be a great game for him because I think if you go and play Raith Rovers, I don’t think he hardly touched the ball, whereas Hearts are coming bit of confidence, knowing that a win keeps them up in that top six because if they lost and Motherwell beat Aberdeen, all of a sudden there is a leapfrog there.

“So I think Celtic fans will be excited to see him.

“But I just wonder how that is going to change the way Celtic play and how comfortable he is at building like Schmeichel does.”

Sinisalo spent six seasons with Aston Villa but left the Birmingham outfit before making a senior appearance for them.

The 23-year-old will be eager to utilise the opportunity if he starts the game against Hearts to perform and stake a claim in the starting line-up.