"He’s very highly rated"; Darren O'Dea praises young duo after Celtic B start season strongly

By John McGinley

July 23, 2022

Celtic B coach Darren O’Dea had praise for youngster Tobi Oluwayemi and Matthew Anderson after today’s opening Lowland League clash against Cowdenbeath.

The Celtic youngsters served up a strong 3-1 win at home to the Fife side, with Anderson scoring twice in the second half before Bruno Davidson put the game beyond doubt with a third.

Another big moment came early in the first half when goalkeeping prospect Tobi Oluwayemi pulled off a “flying, world-class save”, as described by the official Celtic website.

After the game, O’Dea was asked about the England youth international, as well as the contribution of captain Anderson.

He told CelticFC.com: “We will always look back on every game. There will be a minimum of 50 games this season which is fantastic for these young players to go and show what they’re about. Today was a decent performance, but we can be and we will be better.

“The save was huge, that’s what he’s there for, he’s very highly rated. He had one big moment and he made the save and it was fantastic and he deserves a lot of credit. Sometimes as a Celtic keeper you don’t have much to do in a game, so he can be happy.

“Anderson is someone I’ve known since I came back into the club and he has the heart of a lion. That’s not what I expect from him in terms of goals, but his performance was really good and he will keep getting better alongside all the players.”

Oluwayemi was part of the first-team group over pre-season and trains with Joe Hart, Ben Siegrist and Scott Bain.

Working with Stevie Woods and playing regularly with Celtic B will be helping his development and confidence-boosting saves like today’s won’t hurt either.

Anderson, an 18-year-old left-back, is also well thought of in the Celtic set-up, with the club rejecting offers from Leeds United for his services last year.

Celtic B’s next match comes on Tuesday away to Berwick Rangers.

In other news, Scott Brown comes out on top vs former Celtic teammates in Saturday clash.