Martin O’Neill has explained his thinking behind starting Arne Engels ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren.
Engels was chosen to start for the first time since returning from injury after being given a brief run out in the league meeting between the two a week earlier.
Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the winner against the Buddies but was made to settle for a place on the bench as the Hoops’ record signing was named as the preferred choice.
No Tomas Cvancara in the squad 👀
Thoughts on the team?
Martin O’Neill says Celtic have missed Arne Engels in midfield
Speaking to Celtic TV before kick-off, O’Neill admitted that his team have missed Engels in the middle of the park.
However, he warned that the Belgian was still getting up to speed and that the pressure should be off him for now.
“He’s got plenty of running power, something we kind of lacked during his time out with injury,” the 74-year-old said.
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“I wouldn’t be putting too much expectation on him. He came on last week and was fine. He made a couple of decent interceptions during the course of the 15-20 minutes he played.
“It’s important for him to start and important that he comes through for the team.”
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