New Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley has been informed by staff at Parkhead to be ready for a potential debut at Tynecastle tomorrow night.
The Hoops go into the vital clash against Hearts with real shortages in the midfield. Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, and Yosuke Ideguchi are all sidelined. That leaves Ange Postecoglou with a major dilemma to solve tomorrow.
James McCarthy, Nir Bitton, Ismaila Soro, and O’Riley make up the defensive-midfield options available to the manager. Soro and McCarthy have struggled to impress this season whilst Bitton is regularly utilised as a centre-back.
That makes an O’Riley debut seem like almost like a certainty. And speaking in the pre-match build-up via Celtic TV today, he’s revealed that staff at the club have told him to be prepared for selection:
“I feel ready. If I’m called upon then I am ready yes. I’ve played enough games this season so I think I’m in a good place physically. I’ve had a few days of training with the boys as well so I’m feeling good.
“I haven’t had that direct conversation with him [Postecoglou] himself. But I’ve obviously been told by members of staff to be ready if needed upon so that’s what I’m doing. I’m training well, preparing the right way like I always do, and if I’m called upon I’ll be ready.”
Matt O’Riley looks primed for Hearts vs Celtic – a chance to be an instant hero
It’s no surprise to see O’Riley being prepped for a debut tomorrow night. You look through the Celtic midfield options at the moment and wonder who the legitimate alternatives are.
Soro, for example, has barely been involved in a Premiership matchday squad since September. He hasn’t played a minute in any of our last 14 league matches and has only been involved in 2 of those squads [Transfermarkt].
McCarthy, meanwhile, was extremely poor in the second half against Alloa. He didn’t offer us enough midfield control and was far too slow in possession. You would fear starting the Irishman at Tynecastle tomorrow with a lack of improvement evident in his game this season.
Bitton could take one of the spots left by McGregor and Ideguchi. And O’Riley looks like the only real plausible option to take the other. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops when the likes of Turnbull and McGregor return to action. But it’s imperative we have these alternative options available.
And for the Englishman himself, what an opportunity to become an instant hero amongst the Celtic support. If he thrives at Tynecastle then he’ll likely be in contention for the upcoming games against Dundee United and Rangers. If he manages to come out shining from these fixtures he’ll be lauded by the support and his reputation will receive a massive boost even this early into his Celtic career.
So it might be a potential debut on the cards for O’Riley tomorrow night, but it’s anything but a light affair. The most important week of Celtic’s entire domestic campaign is coming up, and the former MK Dons man looks like being right in the middle of it.
In other news, Celtic boss addresses Christopher Jullien return and what he has to do to start games
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