Whilst the majority of the Celtic headlines have been taken up by the Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava, there was also a great result for the B team yesterday.
Celtic B are currently participating in the UEFA Youth League tournament and won their opening group game against Slovan Bratislava 4-0 yesterday afternoon.
A double from Daniel Cummings was bolstered by strikes from Francis Turley and Samuel Isiguzo as the young Celts asserted their superiority with a dominant performance over the young Slovakians.
However, young Hoops boss, Stephen McManus, named three other Celtic youngsters as ones to watch after the win as McManus paid tribute to the strength and depth he has in the goalkeeping position.
McManus: Celtic youngsters’ superb ‘attitude’
Speaking after the table-topping win, McManus said that there are two young goalkeepers who will play a massive part for Celtic B this season despite not getting any minutes in yesterday’s win.
McManus told Celtic TV, “When you look at Aidan Rice, I mentioned earlier we’ve got three goalkeepers within the squad and it’s difficult to try and get three goalkeepers playing regularly and trying to find a better rhythm.
“But the three guys that have come in whether it’s been Joe Morrison whether it’s been Marcus Gill and again Aidan Rice, their attitude and their application how they worked is tremendous.
“And in a really important moment in the game, Aidan makes a brilliant save so it was a real collective performance and again in days like this and in the competition it’s unfortunate because we’re having to leave two players out and that’s probably the hardest part of our job because you know how much it means to the players.
“But again the boys that weren’t stripped today they’ll play a massive part in the season.
“So as a squad, we are in a good place. Yes, we’re looking to improve as we always do because again our job is not to win football matches at this level.
“Our job’s to try and produce players that can play in our first team and that’s always our main goal.”
Celtic youngsters shine
A win at this level is a huge confidence boost for the Celtic B team as the youngsters look to continue their development at the club.
For young Rice, yesterday was the 18-year-olds third appearance of the season. So far he has kept two clean sheets and conceded just two goals.
Joe Morrison has made five outings for the Celtic youngsters and the 20-year-old has kept three clean sheets and conceded just two.
17-year-old Marcus Gill is yet to make any appearances for the young Hoops despite being capped at U16 and U17 level for the Republic of Ireland.
Clearly Celtic have some good talent in their ranks and if McManus can continue to develop these youngsters then hopefully the Parkhead support will see them appear in the first-team some time in the future.
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