Celtic made it two wins from two as the new Premiership season starts to heat up.
Only two sides have made a 100% start, the champions of Scotland themselves, and Hearts, following added investment and quite a lot of noise from Tony Bloom.
After putting three points on the board on Flag Day against St Mirren, Celtic saw off Aberdeen on Sunday, with Brendan Rodgers making one change to his XI, and that was James Forrest starting instead of Hyunjun Yang.
It wasn’t a surprise, to be honest, because Forrest probably did more in half an hour than Yang did when he started against St Mirren last time out.
- READ MORE: ‘Papering over the cracks’ – Kris Boyd doesn’t hold back after Celtic beat Aberdeen at Pittodrie
Chris Sutton on James Forrest playing 78 minutes as Celtic beat Aberdeen
Forrest played 78 minutes at Pittodrie, but Chris Sutton was expecting him to go off the pitch a lot sooner.
Not because of how the Celtic hero was performing, but because of Rodgers’ lack of options out wide, so you wouldn’t want to risk a player who has become even more important.
In the end, Forrest was replaced by Arne Engels with 12 minutes left of normal time, and Yang didn’t even come onto the pitch.
“It’s surprising he (Rodgers) has left James Forrest on for so long,” added Sutton. “Especially with the lack of wingers Celtic have.”
Brendan Rodgers’ current winger options at Celtic
It’s not helpful that Nicolas Kuhn leaves for Como, and isn’t really replaced, and nobody has come in to cover for the long-term injured Jota.
There are options out wide for the Celtic manager, but it’s clear that they are players who, more than likely, might be out the door by the time the September 1 transfer deadline slams shut.
Celtic’s current and available wide options:
- James Forrest
- Yang
- Marco Tilio
- Daizen Maeda
- Benjamin Nygren
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