Celtic boss Neil Lennon has an interesting selection dilemma on his hands for Saturday’s league fixture against Ross County.
The dilemma is about who will partner Christopher Jullien in the centre of the Hoops defence. At the moment, the £7 million signing from Toulouse seems to be a first-pick for the Hoops, despite his recent struggles against Livingston.
However, the Hoops boss now has to decide who will play alongside Jullien. The section could come down to two players – Kristoffer Ajer and Nir Bitton.
Now fit after absence of over a month
Bitton has not played for Celtic since the 2-0 win over Rangers at the start of September. However, he proved his fitness by starting twice for Israel during the recent international break.
Ajer also played twice during the international break, for Norway. It is a tad unfortunate that whoever plays alongside Jullien will be doing so on the back of two international fixtures, but that is what Neil Lennon will have to cope with.
It would not be that much of a shock to see Bitton return to the starting line-up. For a start, he was excellent in the aforementioned win over Rangers. He and Jullien were rock solid in defence.
Recent poor performances
It should also be taken into account that Ajer has not been at his best recently. Like Jullien, he struggled against Livingston. However, he was also poor against Hibs and Rennes.
Lennon now has the chance to re-establish the partnership that performed so well in one of the biggest games of the season so far.
Should Jullien and Bitton perform well against Ross County, they could be the centre-back pairing for a while to come.
That does not mean that Ajer cannot regain his place in the side, he is too good a player not to. For the moment though, the Hoops boss should select Bitton as the man to partner Jullien.
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