McGeady retains Celtic place

Talented teenage striker Aiden McGeady kept his place in the Celtic starting line-up for today’s Bank of Scotland Premier League championship party at Parkhead.

The 18-year-old scored on his senior debut in the 1-1 draw at Tynecastle last week and manager Martin O’Neill rewarded him with his first appearance in front of the home fans.

McGeady was joined in the side by another youngster Stephen McManus, who was called up along with Paul Lambert, Chris Sutton and Alan Thompson.

Bobo Balde, Liam Miller, Stilian Petrov and Didier Agathe were the players to drop out.

With Celtic being presented with the SPL trophy after the game, their Tennent’s Scottish Cup final opponents were looking to spoil their celebrations.

Manager Jimmy Calderwood made one change from the side which defeated Motherwell 3-0 with Billy Mehmet replacing Scotland international Stevie Crawford.

Celtic: Marshall, Varga, Mjallby, McManus, Smith, Lennon, Lambert, Thompson, McGeady, Larsson, Sutton.

Subs: Douglas, Pearson, Wallace, Beattie, Miller.

Dunfermline: Stillie, Bullen, Skerla, Shields, Byrne, Nicholson, Mason, Dempsey, Darren Young, Derek Young, Mehmet.

Subs: Hunt, Scott Y Thomson, Kilgannon, Grondin, Labonte.

Referee: D McDonald (Scotland)