Neil Lennon today confirmed a promising injury return that now provides him with a big selection dilemma.
The Hoops boss confirmed at his press conference today that Mikey Johnston is back for the game against Nomme Kalju tomorrow night (Celtic TV). The left-winger has been sidelined since hobbling off against Sarajevo in Bosnia two weeks ago.
Since then, however, there’s been a new youngster making an impression down the left in his place. Calling Lewis Morgan a renaissance man wouldn’t be far off. Just a few weeks ago his Celtic career looked fairly bleak. Yet, Lennon gave him some opportunities and he’s since ran with them.
It all started away in Sarajevo with a cameo appearance that ended with Morgan getting an assist. A man-of-the-match display against Rennes in a friendly was then followed up with another promising outing at home against Sarajevo.
Morgan certainly played a huge part in making sure we qualified for the second qualifying round comfortably. His directness, quick feet, and sharpness all look like being valuable assets for Celtic this season. Lenny also had the following to say on Morgan at his pre-match press conference today:
But, how can you also ignore the form Johnston showed pre-injury? He notched two goals in pre-season, whilst generally, his footwork and pace gave opposition rivals nightmares in Austria and Switzerland. He was by far the highlight of pre-season, and is now back and will be looking for his spot once again.
Morgan over Johnston the right call in selection dilemma for now
Lennon also stated in his presser that the players in front of centre-back Christopher Jullien are playing well and hinted that Jullien will have to wait for his opportunity (Celtic TV). That sounds as though the Celtic manager is going to stick with them so long as they’re performing. That should also be the case for Morgan too.
Against Kalju tomorrow, we have to go with our in-form players. Johnston is only just back, whilst Morgan has been performing positively over the last two weeks. It doesn’t mean that Morgan has won the battle for the left-mid spot. It simply means that he’s in the driving seat for now because he’s the man in-form.
Johnston will get his chance once he gets a few more training sessions under his belt. When the season kicks off, we’re going to need both Morgan and Johnston in top form considering the number of games we’re going to be playing in.
Interestingly, you have to wonder where this also leaves Scott Sinclair. He hasn’t started the two competitive Champions League qualification matches so far this season. It would take a brave person to bet on him starting tomorrow night against Kalju also.
This looks like being a running battle throughout the season between Morgan and Johnston. In truth, it’s exactly the kind of exciting competition we’ve lacked at left-mid over the last several years. Even if Morgan can play down the right, that’s James Forrest’s to keep. It’s the left that’s up for grabs, and he should get another chance to shine tomorrow night at Parkhead.
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