Joel Mvuka or Kelechi Iheanacho squad omissions a mystery

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The Celtic Star

·14 February 2026

Joel Mvuka or Kelechi Iheanacho squad omissions a mystery

If Joel Mvuka or Kelechi Iheanacho aren’t in the squad tomorrow, then questions need to be asked…

Joel Mvuka of Celtic Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/ Shutterstock

Tomorrow we make the trip down the M77 to face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park as the fixtures come thick and fast in what is a vital stage of the campaign.

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Killie now under the management of Neil McCann and Billy Dodds will have their tails up after a thrilling 4-3 win over St Mirren on Wednesday night, so it will undoubtedly be a difficult task on the plastic artificial surface, although they have shipped eight goals in their last two fixtures, which will give our attackers some great encouragement.

Neil McCann and Kris Boyd. St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Talking of our attacking options, two players who were notable absentees in our last gasp win over Livingston will hope to be in contention for not just a staring berth, but a place in the squad.

Those players in question, being the recently signed Joel Mvuka and summer recruit Kelechi Iheanacho.

Wide player Mvuka signed on loan from French side Lorient, was hooked after only 45 minutes into his debut, whilst Iheanacho has been used sparingly since his return from a hamstring injury that’s plagued his short career in the Hoops.

Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates scoring the winner for Celtic at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Iheanacho has shown his class in his few appearances for the club, indeed he grabbed a late winner from the spot when the two sides last met In Ayrshire. The Nigerian is a class act, and gives us a much needed extra cutting edge in the forward position.

Norwegian Mvuka didn’t exactly impress on his debut, but he’s still a player who could contribute to our attacking options if he’s given the chance.

Joel Mvuka of Celtic. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock/IMAGO

That’s two extra options staring us in the face, ones that we badly need, as we aim to successfully defend our title. Both players should be very much in the thoughts of Martin O’Neill, and if both fail to even make the squad for a second successive fixture, then questions quite rightly need to be asked.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, Glasgow, 07 February. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock/IMAGO

Perhaps we’d know more on the reasoning if the Celtic fan media were allowed into these media conferences of if the mainstream guys would ask questions that the fans want answers to. There was also no media conference yesterday so team news, injury updates etc are thin on the ground.

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