Celtic pair Lewis Morgan and Conor Hazard have both surprisingly been picked for their national squads.
Morgan has been named in Alex McLeish’s squad to face Kazakhstan and San Marino. Hazard, meanwhile has been given a return to the Northern Ireland camp for their matches against Estonia and Belarus respectively.
Firstly, Morgan is certainly a surprise, especially when you consider he didn’t make the previous Scotland squad. During the country’s UEFA Nations League successes against Albania and Israel, Morgan was out of the picture.
It appears that his move to Sunderland and subsequent eight appearances has been enough to sway McLeish.
What makes this so surprising, however, is that Morgan has hardly made an impact down south. He has just one goal and one assist since moving to the North East in January. Added to that, he’s only started four of those eight games. He’s yet to play a full 90 minutes at the Stadium of Light either.
Regardless, the call-up should come as a timely boost to him. Morgan could do with kicking on between now and the end of the season, and a Scotland call-up could do him wonders.
Hazard for Northern Ireland?
As for Hazard, his is a tad more believable. He made the last Northern Ireland squad to face Republic of Ireland and Austria. He’s had one clean sheet in one appearance for his national side, but nothing more.
He’s also out on loan from Parkhead these days too. He’ll be at Partick Thistle for the rest of the season, but has only kept two clean sheets in 11 appearances.
He can also be seen helping out the Celtic reserves too, but at senior level, the 21-year-old hasn’t been too much of a standout this term.
Regardless, the injury to Northern Ireland’s Bailey Peacock-Farrell appears to have given him an opening. He joins Morgan as a surprising addition to his respective national team.
This is still positive news for Celtic. The more players attached to the club and playing with their national sides is a big plus. It could be the boost that the pair need to have a positive ending to the campaign.
The hope that it can prove to be a springboard for success is realistic, but both men need to up their game in the coming weeks regardless.
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