SPFL PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS REVEALED WITH THREE CELTIC PLAYER AND ONE SUPRISE RIVAL INCLUSION

THE candidates for the SPFA’s Premiership Player of the Year have been confirmed.

And it’s no surprise that runaway league-winning Celtic stars are dominating the category for the award.

Daizen Maeda has been pointed as favourite for some months already with his 16 league goals and nine assists having him topping the charts.

Across all competitions he has netted an astounding 33 times this campaign for the champions.

He’s joined by two teammates in the voting, the first of whom is Nicolas Kuhn.

The German winger’s 12 goals have him fifth in the rankings for scorers, and his eight league assists are bettered only by Maeda and Alistair Johnston.

He was on his hottest form earlier in the season with his two goals in their last match against Dundee United being his first (and second) since February.

Some had wondered if tailing off a little would have ended his hopes of being put up for the award, but we now know that isn’t the case.

The third Hoops star involved is captain Callum McGregor.

Playing deeper in the midfield his goal contribution stats don’t grab as much attention as his aforementioned teammates, with eight netted and two set up in the Premiership. Half of those goals also came in the first six games of the season.

But the skipper has been absolutely crucial in their charge to title glory in other ways having played a full 90 minutes in the vast majority of league fixtures.

The final nominee and the only one not in green and white is a big inclusion as he’s currently battling to pull away from 11th place and a relegation playoff.

Dundee striker Simon Murray, despite a season of struggle for his team, is joint top on 16 goals with Maeda.

Joining last summer after a successful spell with Ross County, Murray’s goalscoring has been crucial for the Dens Park side.

He was the difference in a win over Hearts this weekend as he made it eight scored in his last eight league games.

With only four nominees put forward, some are unlucky to miss out.

In an impressive season for recently promoted Dundee United which sees them fighting for third, Wrexham loanee Sam Dalby’s 14 goals have impressed fans who’ll be hoping for a permanent move for the forward.

Despite a disappointing campaign for Rangers Cyriel Dessers still finds himself fourth top scorer with 13 league goals notched, while winger Vaclav Cerny and midfielder Nicolas Raskin have impressed too.

In an even more disappointing season for bottom six Hearts who recently sacked head coach Neil Critchley, left-back James Penrice has been a bright spark after joining from Livingston.

He landed himself a space in the Team of the Year as well as the club’s internal Player’s and Fan’s Player of the Year.

The fantastic four nominated for the SPFA’s Young Player of the Year have also been announced.

There is only one Celtic player on this list in the form of Belgian midfielder Arne Engels.

He joined in the summer from German side Augsburg with a big £11million price tag attached and has appeared in every single game for Brendan Rodgers‘ team.

The Gers have a name in the voting for the youngster category as Moroccan forward Hamza Igamane‘s 11 goals (plus another four in the Europa League) land him a spot.

The Old Firm players are 21 and 22 years old respectively while the other two nominees are in their teens.

Motherwell‘s Lennon Miller needs little introduction as he’s seen as one of the country’s brightest young talents.

Big European clubs have been sniffing around the 18-year-old who has played the role of captain at Fir Park at points this season.

The final nominee is Hearts’ James Wilson in what has been a breakthrough season for the teenager.

It took until December for the forward to get a proper chance in the senior side and he’d played in every game since until his recent red card suspension.

Steve Clarke also handed him a Scotland debut against Greece last month which made him a record breaker as youngest ever player for the national team.