Celtic began their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 win against Queen’s Park.
Brendan Rodgers named 15 youngsters in the squad that also featured first team regulars Callum McGregor, Luke McCowan and Arne Engels.
Ross Doohan was the only one of the five summer signings made by Celtic in the squad as the rest either return at a later date due to international commitments or are deemed not ready yet.
The Hoops took the lead just before the 20th minute after Luke McCowan’s deflected effort ran through before Adam Montgomery squared the ball back to Johnny Kenny, who slammed the ball high into the net.
As expected, a whole host of changes were made in the second half with only Doohan keeping his spot in the side.
With that, here are five things that we learned from the first game and win of the season.
Johnny Kenny sends a message to Brendan Rodgers
The arrival of Callum Osmand has led to some people thinking that Johnny Kenny’s time at Celtic Park is over.
Kenny is wanted by Bolton Wanderers but will no doubt have his eyes on challenging Adam Idah for the number nine role this season.
If he wanted to send a message to the Celtic manager then he certainly did after scoring the Hoops’ first goal of the season with an excellent strike into the top corner.
There’s still plenty of time to go before the start of the season, but it’s a strong start.
Several youngsters catch the eye
Pre-season is always a great chance to introduce the next generation of talent into the first team and there were several that impressed.
First half right-back Colby Donovan showed shades of Alistair Johnston at times with his overlapping runs past Jude Bonnar.
Second half substitute Tom Hatton also unleashed a strong effort that stung the palms of Queen’s Park goalkeeper Cam Ferrie.
The second-half XI looked composed throughout the game, led by the more experienced Stephen Welsh, showing that they can be trusted by Rodgers when called upon.
Arne Engels’ set pieces are still a concern
Arne Engels blew hot and cold last season as his record price tag of £11m was used against him every time.
After a year of adjusting to life in Glasgow, the pressure on the Belgium international has ramped up but one area he still appears to be struggling in is set pieces.
Celtic have plenty of height in the side and when your main set piece taker is struggling to beat the first man, it can become quite frustrating.
Maybe it can be put down to rustiness during the first game back, but these sorts of issues need to be fixed up before the real stuff begins.
Brendan Rodgers still keen to stick with winning formation
They say you shouldn’t change what isn’t broken and in Rodgers’ case, his tactical set up has been very successful across his two spells in charge.
But, with new signings who can operate in different positions and are capable of being deployed in something else other than a 4-4-3, pre-season is no better time to try something new.
However, as it’s the first game back, Rodgers seemed keen to get the team vital minutes under their belt and go with his tried and tested.
Rustiness was to be expected
It was only a week ago that players were returning to Lennoxtown to begin another gruelling pre-season.
Add in the fact that many of the core first team players aren’t back in training yet, there was always going to be a sense of rustiness.
Some passes were misplaced, the tempo of the game was perhaps slower than supporters are used to seeing, but it is still early days.
Players will be bedding into roles and still getting minutes in the tank. As the games go by, expect to see a higher intensity and more goals.
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