Dundee v Celtic – Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

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The Celtic Star

·5. April 2026

Dundee v Celtic – Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

It’s basically a win or bust day for Celtic as we head back to the City of Discovery chasing our first win of the season up in Tayside after three defeats, twice as Tannadice and once back in October at Dens Park…

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney look on during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill talked about this at pre-match mainstream media conference on Friday afternoon, with the Celtic fans media still excluded by a club frightened of any real scrutiny from the supporters.

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“I’ve just been reminded that all three Celtic managers this season have lost in Dundee,” Martin said. “so we’ll try and rectify that!

“I think we’re looking forward to it, but we know how difficult it’s going to be and we’ve got to be ready for it. We made a lot of mistakes in our last game and you learn. I don’t think we adjusted well enough to the conditions and that’s down to us.

Dens Park Dundee. Dundee v Celtic. 14th January 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

“We have the belief. Do I have belief in the team? Absolutely, and the team have belief in themselves. We had a setback so we have to put it to the side, get geared up for the game and be ready for a strong match.

“Dundee have been very competitive and they played very well against us at our place in the cup. I expect a really difficult game and that will be case. It will be hard for us.”

Celtic Team News

Arne Engels could return this afternoon providing Celtic will a better balance in the middle of the park, he’s however likely to be on the bench. Auston Trusty is good to go despite some concerns earlier in the week that he’s suffered an injury in the USA’s friendly against Portugal.

Alistair Johnston has suffered a setback on his final day training with the Canadian national side that has pushed his return back while Colby Donovan has recovered from his knock at Tannadice when he collided with the advertising hoardings.

Callum Osmand celebrates. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Callum Osmand could make the bench this afternoon to provide a much needed goalscoring instinct to the Celtic attack.

Predicted Celtic Team

Viljami Sinisalo, who had a long trip to New Zealand with Finland in the international break, will have the gloves. Colby Donovan and Kieran Tierney will be the Celtic full-backs while the tried and tested central defensive partnership of Auston Trusty and Liam Scales will be back for the title run-in.

Benjamin Nygren of Sweden celebrates with teammates Gustaf Lagerbielke and Lucas Bergvall after the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Sweden and Poland at Strawberry Arena on March 31, 2026 in Solna, Sweden. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images)

In the middle of the park the Celtic captain Callum McGregor will be joined by Benjamin Nygren – still on a high after helping Sweden make the World Cup Finals during the week – will most likely be joined by Reo Hatate.

It’s the forward areas where there is real concern and while there’s a strong argument to listen to John Hartson’s advice and opt to start James Forrest on the right wing, Yang is likely to retain his place.

Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic celebrates his team’s second goal scored by teammate Reo Hatate (not pictured) during the Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

On the left wing Sebastian Tounekti should start despite many commentators noting he does his best work coming off the bench. And Daizen Maeda, who is about to release his autobiography, is looking like the most likely option to lead the line for Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side at Dens Park

So our predicted Celtic team is as follows:

Celtic XI: Sinisalo; Donovan, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor (c), Hatate, Nygren, Yang, Maeda and Tounekti.

Celtic subs: Doohan; Arthur, Ralston, Murray, McCowan, Oxlade Chamberlain, Engels, Cvacara, Forrest, Osmand, Iheanacho

Match Officials

Steven McLean during the Premiership match at Celtic Park against Hibs on Saturday March 18, 2023. Photo Steve Welsh

Earlier this week the Scottish FA confirmed that today’s Scottish Premiership match at Dens Park between Dundee FC and Celtic will be refereed by Steven McLean who will be assisted by Calum Spence and Douglas Ross (!). Meanwhile Matthew McDermid will head up the VAR operation and he will be assisted by Chris Graham.

Kick-off Time

Dens Park. Dundee v Celtic. 19 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Dundee FC v Celtic takes place at Dens Park Dundee and the Scottish premiership match will have a 4.30pm kick off time on Easter Sunday. That is of course CPT*.

Where to Watch

Chris Sutton – St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Dundee v Celtic will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports HDR. Coverage will begin at 4.15pm following the conclusion of Livingston v Hearts. Live streaming of Dundee v Celtic is also available via the Sky Sports app.

The match is also live on Celtic TV and available to subscribers based outside of Britain and Ireland. There will be a delayed transmission of the game available from around midnight for subscribers based in Britain and Ireland.

Predicted Score

Daizen Maeda at Tannadice – Dundee Utd v Celtic. Sunday 22 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

As Conall McGinty pointed out earlier today on The Celtic Star, it doesn’t matter how it’s done all that counts is that Celtic leave Dundee with three points to remain in the title race with just a half dozen games left to play. Goals from Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren to give Celtic an incredibly important 2-0 win.

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* Celtic Park Time.

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