It doesn’t seem like Christopher Jullien is going to make his first competitive start for Celtic on Wednesday.
The Hoops face Estonian champions Nomme Kalju on Champions League duty and they aren’t exactly blessed for defensive options.
The signing of Hatem Abd Elhamed is yet to go through so Neil Lennon is likely to employ Kristoffer Ajer at right-back once again. That should mean there’s a spot for Jullien in the centre. Or so you would think.
Lennon played down his chances of playing at the post-match press conference. (Celtic’s official YouTube channel)
He said: “We had another bounce game here on Thursday. He came through that really well.
“So it’s a slow burner for Chris. The players in front of him are playing really well but we’re only midway through pre-season.
“There’s still plenty of time for Chris to feature on a regular basis.”
Jullien should make his Celtic Park debut soon
Lennon may just be taking it easy with the big Frenchman. However, you can’t help but feel this Kalju clash is an ideal chance for him to find his feet.
The Estonians aren’t likely to cause Celtic too many major issues so surely it would be the perfect time for Jullien to make his competitive debut. We’ll likely have a much tougher tie in a fortnight and throwing him in then doesn’t make much sense.
Added to that, Jozo Simunovic will miss our first two domestic games of the season after picking up a suspension. Surely it makes sense to break Jullien in prior to that.
The defender must be itching to play after signing three weeks ago. Surely it’s time to see what he’s all about.
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