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News
Three Celtic players told they would never have started against Lazio if it wasn’t for injuries
Celtic’s injury status right now means that Brendan Rodgers is currently starting players in the first team who would not normally start at all. Especially in the Champions League.
Injuries to the likes of Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, coupled with the suspension of Luis Palma meant that Brendan Rodgers was forced to play players against Lazio that would normally have been on the bench or not travelled at all.
And that is a message hammered home by Kenny Miller. The former Rangers man was surprised at Celtic’s starting lineup but did concede that there are three players there that are only playing to fill in the gaps.
Miller said [], “Take nothing away from James Forrest and what he’s achieved and everything he’s achieved at Celtic and the quality that he’s got, he wouldn’t be a first choice at this moment in time.
“The same for Yang on the other side and probably the same for Bernardo in the middle of the pitch as well with the absence of Hatate in particular.”
Celtic’s recruitment falls sharply into focus after Champions League failure
Brendan Rodgers has already said he is looking to add quality to his Celtic team and after last night’s 2-0 defeat by Lazio, the Celtic boss hammered home that message.
Celtic looks vulnerable and weak in so many key positions that Rodgers will need more than one transfer window to sort it out.
And that he must. Celtic now have the ignominy of not having European football after Christmas for the second season in a row.
For a club of that stature and for Brendan Rodgers, that is simply not good enough. The work to strengthen the team and weed out those players that are surplus to requirements starts in less than a month’s time.
The Celtic fans will be hoping that Rodgers has a few tricks up his sleeve because if he doesn’t, never mind Europe, their title in Scotland could be seriously under threat.
In other news, ‘Let’s be honest’… 24-year-old SPFL striker is ‘good enough’ to play for Celtic