Hugh Keevins insists Celtic duo are ‘nowhere near’ good enough despite win over Dundee

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Celtic continue to march forward after picking up three more points in the Scottish Premiership.

A lot of eyes may have been on Aberdeen’s win over Rangers on Wednesday night, but in Glasgow, normal service resumed for Brendan Rodgers and his players.

It may have taken up until the hour mark for Alistair Johnston to open the scoring – finding the back of the net in back-to-back games – but it was a comfortable 2-0 win for Celtic over Dundee, in the end.

Just like the weekend match at Fir Park, the manager made several changes to his XI, with Callum McGregor still absent and the fringe players coming into the side.

This was their chance to impress, knock that door down and try to get into a side that is getting stronger with each game.

But two players making their first starts of the Premiership campaign certainly didn’t impress Hugh Keevins, as he feels their teammates are way ahead.

Hyunjun Yang and Luis Palma are not good enough for Celtic

Daizen Maeda is a machine for Celtic and he was on the bench against Dundee, but was called upon just before the hour mark, with the champions scoring minutes later.

Whilst Rodgers didn’t risk the ever-improving Nicolas Kuhn ahead of the League Cup semi-final clash against Aberdeen.

That meant starts for Hyunjun Yang and Luis Palma, but Keevins told Clyde1 Superscoreboard that they aren’t good enough for the Bhoys.

The Scottish pundit feels the likes of Maeda and Kuhn have shown the levels, but Marvin Bartley disagreed and defended Yang, in particular.

“He (Yang) isn’t up to playing for Celtic, I am sorry,” said Keevins. “And neither is Palma. When you see Nicolas Kuhn, and Maeda and the contributions they make.

“Yang and Luis Palma are not at that level. Nowhere near it.”

Bartley added: “I saw a few bits (against Dundee) that were maybe encouraging signs, for me. I know he (Yang) hasn’t played that much football. He showed tidy feet at times.

“I think there is something in there. I really, really do. Wingers are the most confident players, in terms of needing confidence on the whole pitch and when you aren’t playing. It’s difficult to come in. But I don’t think he did too badly.”

Yang and Palma’s stats for Celtic against Dundee

Both players didn’t finish the game against Dundee, playing around an hour, and perhaps not putting their name up in lights like they would have wanted.

On one hand, they have got some much-needed minutes under their belt and their engines are far warmer than before.

Yang was rated 6.41 by WhoScored, with Palma producing significantly better numbers and being rated 7.22 for his 57 minutes on the pitch.