Celtic boss Neil Lennon revealed a bit of interesting injury news during his Friday press conference ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Partick Thistle.
Lennon disclosed, as reported by Celtic’s Twitter account, that James Forrest is an injury doubt for the game.
There is no need for the Celtic boss to risk Forrest, as the Hoops have plenty of games on the horizon. He has also recently played like someone who could do with a break.
Therefore, Forrest’s potential absence could, and should lead to a rare Celtic chance for Marian Shved. Shved has only featured twice for Celtic under the Hoops boss. He has yet to start a match for the club.
However, the winger was recently praised by the Celtic manager.
“A wee bit of a bonus”
“He’s training well. He’s looking lively and has been a wee bit of a bonus this week” Lennon said, as quoted by the Scotsman.
“He’s a bit of a slow burner, but he’s still young and I’ve really liked what I have seen of him. He’s been good.”
Many players have overcome a slow start to star for a team they just moved to. Look at Henrik Larsson for example.
Bonus in a few ways if player can contribute
Nobody is expecting Shved to be as good as Larsson. However, it would be a bonus for Celtic in a number of ways if the attacker contributed in the second-half of the season.
For a start, as has already been pointed out, it would enable James Forrest to get a break. He could do with a few games off to recharge his batteries.
Also, a good run for Shved would mean that the Hoops do not need to look for another winger in the transfer window.
A game against a team near the bottom of the Championship should be one in which Shved thrives. He should be given the nod to start against Partick, and hopefully it will kickstart his Celtic career.
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