Celtic boss Neil Lennon has shown some slight concern at the fact Albian Ajeti has been called up by Switzerland.
Ajeti came on against Motherwell yesterday to bag his second domestic goal in two games. He’s now made four cameo appearances in four matches, but has still yet to play even a full half of football.
Despite that, he’ll still be away with his national side for upcoming matches against Ukraine and Germany respectively.
Lennon, however, has hinted that he doesn’t want to see his man on the pitch for a prolonged period of time. Speaking in comments published by the Scotsman, the Celtic boss said the following:
“We’ve an issue because Albian has been called up and we have let the Swiss know he is not fully match fit.
“So whether he goes and comes back or does some conditioning work and maybe plays ten or 15 minutes I don’t know. I’ve not said I don’t want him to play, but he is not match fit. They will take a view on that when they see him and Albian is of the same opinion.”
Lennon not keen on rocking players’ international opportunities
It’s interesting to see that the Celtic manager hasn’t chosen to hold Ajeti back. In my view, this is great man-management from the gaffer here. He could’ve easily kept him at Lennoxtown to work on his fitness.
He’s had his faults over the last week has Lennon, but the last thing he’ll have wanted to do is tell players that they aren’t going away to represent their country. Especially a player who has scored two goals in his last two domestic matches.
The travelling may be a tad tiring over the course of the next fornight or so, but it’s worth letting Ajeti go and continue to build up both his conditioning and match sharpness.
Allowing him to travel also gives us a good chance of seeing a more conditioned and sharper Ajeti when he comes back. Featuring in cameos against sides such as Ukraine and Germany will only help him in the long run.
However, Lennon is right to urge caution. We can’t have any serious injuries to our key stars over the next two weeks. The next phase of games is far too important to be without a player of Ajeti’s quality.
His role appears restricted to being utilised as an impact sub for Switzerland – the same role he’s been playing for the Hoops in recent weeks. Hopefully, those instructions are followed and Ajeti continues to get up to speed.
In other news, some Celtic fans have been encouraging one of our loan stars to return to the club.
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