By Graham Falk

Copyright scotsman

Celtic will look to keep their unbeaten domestic run going and forge a path to the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup when they visit Partick Thistle at the Wyre Stadium. Fresh off the back of a dramatic late 2-1 win over Kilmarnock last weekend in the Scottish Premiership, the Hoops will make the short journey to Maryhill as huge favourites, but face a Jags side in a confident mood after their recent winning streak. Former Celtic defender Marc Wilson has led his Thistle side to three consecutive victories in the Scottish Championship, taking them to third in the table, just three points behind league leaders St Johnstone. However, their attention turns to the cup this weekend, and they’ll be focused on beating the Scottish champions for the first time in over 20 years. Both sides have a barrage of injury worries ahead of the game, with Celtic expected to be without Alistair Johnston (hamstring), Auston Trusty (foot), and long-term injury victim Jota (ACL), while Anthony Ralston (ankle) is also a doubt ahead of the clash. As for the hosts, they’ll be forced to do without loan stars Josh Clarke and Ben McPherson, with both players unable to play against their parent club. Ahead of the game, we look at who the Scottish FA has chosen as the match officials at the Wyre Stadium: The referee for Sunday’s game will be Kevin Clancy. He has officiated just one Scottish Premiership game this season, taking charge of Celtic’s 3-0 home win over Livingston. He awarded just one yellow card during the game. Across his career, Clancy has officiated 89 Scottish Premiership games, awarding 347 (3.90 average per game), 15 red cards (0.17 average per game), 23.12 average fouls per game, and 0.36 penalties per game. Clancy will be assisted Ross Macleod and David Dunne. There will be no VAR in use during the game at the Wyre Stadium. VAR technology is only used in the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Premiership play-offs, meaning it will not be in use when Partick Thistle host Celtic. VAR can only be used for mixed-division cup games if the match is hosted at a Premiership ground. Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis – subscribe for free here.