CELTIC fans can expect to see some potential stars of the future involved in tonight’s home Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Partick Thistle night, Brendan Rodgers has said.
The champions are in the middle of a punishing nine-game December schedule but their 2-1 home win over Dundee on Saturday restored their 11-point advantage over Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, with two games in hand. With such a commanding lead, achieved on the back of a 20-game unbeaten domestic run, the manager is ready to draft in some of his under-20 squad for the visit of the team propping up the table.
Rodgers said a number of the academy players have been training with the first team and “doing very well”, but declined to give names.
Forward Jack Aitchison become Celtic’s youngest-ever player and the Parkhead club’s youngest-ever scorer when he came off the bench at the age of 16 to notch in the 7-0 home win over Motherwell at the end of last season, under former boss Ronny Deila. Defender Anthony Ralston also made his debut under the Norwegian and the 18-year-old came off the bench against Motherwell in the Betfred Cup in August.
Rodgers, who will have captain Scott Brown back from suspension, said: “I can have a look at my squad and see if there are any younger players who can come in.
“Fundamentally, my job coming here was to win trophies, to play attacking football the Celtic way and to bring young players through. So we will look to see if there are any young players we can maybe look at over the next few games.
“This is what building a club is about, creating the hope for the youth players, otherwise if they don’t think they can play, then why should you have an academy? We have to develop young players here. That is how I have always worked but they have to be ready.
“Not totally ready of course, but they need to show the ingredients, and that they can come in and play in the first team. That is very important to a big club.”
Defender Erik Sviatchenko welcomed the introduction of fresh blood into the squad. He said: “Celtic are really keen on having young players coming through the ranks and if it is opportunities like now then I welcome them warmly.”
The Dane’s prime aim, though, is to keep the unbeaten run going, regardless of who is playing. “It is a nice feeling to be on a run where we haven’t lost for 20 games now,” he said. “It is important for the confidence to grow, that every game we go into we know that we are difficult to beat.
“It is positive, especially for a defender, to be unbeaten. That is something I cherish and defenders should cherish. We aren’t unbeatable but the feeling of it grows in our mind and that’s where it starts first”
After hosting Thistle, Celtic play Hamilton at the SuperSeal stadium on Christmas Eve, which is when Christmas is celebrated in Denmark.
Sviatchenko said: “Playing on the 24th is a new thing but it is nice. Sometimes you want to keep working hard and play games but physically it is tough, especially for me, as a player who has never played during this sort of period because in Denmark they are in a winter break and travelling to Dubai or wherever it is warm.
“But I am working hard, playing games and I am loving it [at Celtic] so far. Obviously in Denmark you enjoy your Christmas break but I have always dreamt about playing in December with a lot of games, so it is good.”
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