“We have an amazing group of players,” Anthony Ralston | OneFootball

Anthony Ralston issued a reminder that despite the current turmoil at Celtic and after back-to-back defeats to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership and Roma in the Europa League, the Celtic squad still is packed full of winners who have all played a significant role as Celtic dominated Scottish football for the past decade or so.

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

The Scotland right back might get a start at Hampden today as Wilfried Nancy looks to shuffle the pack in the Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren at Hampden Park in the 3.30pm kickoff.

“There has been a change of manager, a change of staff and a slight change in the system,” said Ralston. “But it is the same group of players who have brought so much success to the club. You need to be able to adapt in these moments, and I believe that we will be able to do so.

“You need to take in all the information that you can. What is expected of us has all been explained as clearly as possible, and it is up to the boys to go out onto the pitch and implement that.

“That is our job. It has been a change, but we need to adapt to it and we need to get on with it, Ralston said as reported by The Herald.

“Being in the squad and in the changing room every day I don’t see a change in the team. I don’t see it out on the pitch either. I feel we are very much together. There is a cohesion.

“There maybe is a slight dip in confidence when a couple of results go against you. We are only human. But there is also an extra will to go on and change things because that is the mindset we need to have.”

Anthony Ralston of Celtic substituted for Colby Donovan of Celtic. Celtic v Livingston, William Hill Scottish Premiership, Football, Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, UK – 23 August 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

“We know that as a squad we need to be better,” Ralston added. “We need to stand up in games like these and be better because we have already shown we can perform to a higher level than we did against Roma.

“We have to analyse that performance and do it quickly because now we have a massive game round the corner. So, we need to put it to bed and be ready to fight at the weekend.”

Kelechi Iheanacho made an impact and should come into the team today to allow Daizen Maeda to move to the left wing. And Paulo Bernardo too should feature alongside Luke McCowan with Ralston also possibly getting his first start under the new Celtic boss.

Ralston clearly rate Iheanacho. “He is a great player,” the Celtic defender said. “He is another one who has seen it all and done it all before. When he came on, I thought he was brilliant. Holding onto the ball, giving us that out ball as well, and that fight too.

“He has obviously had his injury and it’s great to have him back to full health and he can help the team.”

And Ralston also wanted to talk up his captain Callum McGregor and the Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel.

“We have got an amazing captain in Cal,” Ralston said. “Then we have experienced guys like Kasper Schmeichel and Liam Scales who have come in and been brilliant in the last few years.

“Then you have got myself and coaching staff who are there to help. It is a challenge we have but we should see it as a positive thing and be prepared to meet it head on.

“When you are at a club like Celtic, there is a demand for success that must be met no matter what is going on. That is a constant.

“On Sunday we have an amazing opportunity as a club, as a collective, to go and pick up our first bit of silverware of the season and we are going to aim to do that. We are ready to do that.

“It is what we are built on. It is what in recent years we have managed to do time and time again.

“We have an amazing group of players, talent everywhere you look and a collective hunger to go and get success for this club.”