Celtic youngster Ewan Otoo makes first senior appearance in big Scottish Cup win with Clyde

By David Walton

March 24, 2021

Celtic youngster Ewan Otoo completed a hectic day by bagging 90 minutes and securing Scottish Cup progression for Clyde.

Otoo completed a move to the Bully Wee yesterday afternoon. The player has signed for Danny Lennon’s outfit for the rest of the season in what will be his first spell of senior football.

However, his day didn’t end there. Clyde had a massive Scottish Cup clash on their hands that involved a 358-mile round-trip to Keith. And if Otoo was expecting to simply shadow the first-team on his first day, he was horribly misguided.

Indeed, the young Celtic talent managed to compete for the full 90 minutes as he helped Clyde on their way to a 2-0 success. The victory has now secured a third-round clash away to Championship side Ayr United.

For Otoo, it was his first taste of senior football after spending time with the Celtic development squad. At only 18 years of age, it looks as though Clyde are set to place plenty of faith in them in their fight to stay in League One.

Celtic youngster Ewan Otoo already getting invaluable experience with Clyde

It’s great to see Celtic’s top up-and-coming youngsters finally getting this kind of experience.

Otoo joins Luca Connell and Ryan Mullen in leaving the club over the last seven days alone for loan spells elsewhere. That’s in addition to the likes of Lee O’Connor, Scott Robertson, Jonathan Afolabi, and Kerr McInroy who are already out on loan elsewhere.

Otoo, who can play in both defence and midfield, is leaving at just the right time. At 18 years of age, this is exactly when players should be out tasting senior football for themselves. Getting involved in relegation and promotion battles is key for a player’s mental development.

The Celtic training centre at Lennoxtown / (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)

It’s no use shielding Lennoxtown’s top talents. That way we’ll never see any true development of their potential. We’ve seen in the past how beneficial first-team football has been for the likes of Callum McGregor, Kris Ajer, and Ryan Christie to name but a few. All three of those players are now top assets for the football club.

Otoo will be looking to join that group one day in the future. But it all starts here, and getting out grafting for lower-league clubs is exactly the step our youngsters need to be making.

Hopefully, Ewan comes back to the club in a few months having kept Clyde in League One and with a run of senior games to his name.

In other news, we take a look at the major Celtic talking point Dermot Desmond failed to cover yesterday.