Celtic right-back Hatem Elhamed should be given his big chance to make amends for a dreadful Thursday night performance in Prague when the Hoops face Ross County this afternoon.
Normally, a performance of the sub-par level the Israeli dished out in the Czech Republic last week would result in him being dropped. However, Neil Lennon doesn’t really have that luxury today.
And that’s because Elhamed’s positional rival, Jeremie Frimpong, is out via suspension for this afternoon’s game against the Staggies.
Frimpong’s absence comes as a direct result of the red card he picked up in last season’s Betfred Cup final win against Rangers. The Hoops haven’t played in the competition since then, meaning this will be our first match in the Betfred in almost a year.
With Frimpong out this afternoon, that means Elhamed is most likely the only alternative Lennon can use if he wants a natural replacement today.
Hatem can’t be so careless this afternoon
I for one was extremely disappointed with what Hatem brought to the table in Prague. It just wasn’t the high-quality performance we were all expecting of a player who’s shown he can impress in some of Celtic’s biggest games.
Instead of doing that on Thursday, Elhamed was often caught on the ball or saw his passes intercepted. In addition to that, he was nowhere to be seen for goal number two and generally had a torrid night up against Sparta’s Moberg Karlsson.
However, you also have to take everything into context. Elhamed’s appearance on Thursday night was only his first start in nearly two months. He’s been playing mostly for Israel than he has with Celtic, and that’s a problem for him.
Lennon has consistently stuck by Frimpong despite some seriously poor performance stretching back to the Rangers game on October 17th. The manager has, quite rightly, tried to get his young gun to power through and come out the other side of it.
But that same level of persistence must now be shown for Elhamed. When on his game he’s a powerful, powerful asset to have charging down the right side. Generally, he’s also more defensively aware than Frimpong too.
But it looks as though he’s going to get that opportunity this afternoon thankfully – here’s hoping he can start finding his form again.
In other news, Lennon has provided an exciting update on his plans for today.
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