Alex McLeish

Sat 5 March 2022 12:30, UK

Natural goalscorer Giorgos Giakoumakis will likely start for Celtic against Livingston tomorrow (6 March).

That is the view of former Scotland manager Alex McLeish, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the fit-again Greek hitman.

Giakoumakis, a £2.5million summer signing from VVV-Venlo, has missed the Hoops’ last two matches through illness.

But Ange Postecoglou told the Glasgow Times yesterday (4 March) that the 27-year-old is available for the clash at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Giakoumaksi bagged a hat-trick in his last league match for Postecoglou’s side, the 3-2 win over Dundee on 20 February.

McLeish hailed the striker’s instincts in front of goal and predicted he could be thrown straight back into the starting XI tomorrow.

“Yeah, I could definitely see him starting,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.

“When he first came in, I saw a couple of things that made me think he looked a handful.

“His work for the goals he scored the other week was very good. He was getting into the right positions in the heart of the penalty box.

“When you’ve got a guy like that, you think of Ally McCoist, Frank McAvennie, the legends of the past.

“Now, I’m not saying he’s going to be the ‘next McAvennie’ or whatever, but he has good instincts in the box. You can’t coach that.”

Giakoumakis has netted seven times in 19 appearances since his summer move to Glasgow.

A victory tomorrow would see Celtic retain top spot in the Scottish Premiership, with title rivals Rangers in action against Aberdeen today.

In other news, major update on Albian Ajeti’s future after Celtic talks held.