Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has given his squad a clean bill of health ahead of Wednesday’s test against Midtjylland.
The Celtic boss played a ‘full-strength’ eleven from the start against West Ham United before making a raft of second-half changes.
However, eyebrows were raised by the failure to include Albian Ajeti and Olivier Ntcham in the matchday squad.
Postecoglou has explained the Swiss striker was carrying a small injury, while the French midfielder still isn’t ‘ready’ to feature for the team, even in a friendly.
However, the rest of his team is ready to go for the trip to Denmark.
As quoted by The Sunday Post [24/07 print edition, Post Match supplement page 2], the Bhoys boss said: “The West Ham result makes no difference to my confidence ahead of Wednesday.
“We knew it was going to be a tough challenge going over there. We saw in the first leg that we played well but it was still a tight contest. It will be the same in the second leg.
“We’ve got a clean bill of health tonight so everyone will be fit and available. Ajeti had a little knock so missed out and Ntcham just wasn’t ready.”
Albian Ajeti can still play for Celtic vs Midtjylland; Ntcham will miss out
It sounds like Ajeti missed out yesterday as a precaution. Carrying a knock is better than “not fit” or a muscle injury. He is also included in the UEFA squad for the encounter.
The same can’t be said for Ntcham, who wasn’t registered for the Midtjylland tie. [UEFA] No additions can be made to the official squad ahead of the second leg so the Frenchman will definitely miss out.
Frankly, he sounds miles away from featuring for the team despite being included in the Wales pre-season camp and even coming on in a friendly.
Not including him at all in the squad for Midtjylland is a sign, in my opinion, he is still set to make a Celtic exit this summer.
With less than a year left on his contract and an apparent ill-preparedness this summer, there’s no real reason to keep him around if he’s not up to the standard required.
In other news, Ange says it looks like the same Celtic defence vs Midtjylland as he calls for player response.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
