For those hoping of another appearance from Jeremie Frimpong on Thursday night, that won’t be possible considering he didn’t make the Europa League squad.
The Dutchman made his Premiership debut on Saturday against Ross County. He also managed to bag an assist with a fine cutback for James Forrest to slam home. It was a fine outing for the summer-signing from Manchester City.
However, it was his general performance that received plenty of praise. Frimpong was up and down the right side for 90 minutes, and he certainly impressed the Hoops fans who watched on.
It perhaps opened up the question regarding whether we would see him make another appearance against Lazio on Thursday night. But, unfortunately, he didn’t make Celtic’s Europa League cut when it was announced back in early September.
You can see the full Europa League squad for yourself by clicking here. Unfortunately, Frimpong is nowhere to be seen. Instead, both Hatem Abd Elhamed and Moritz Bauer are our right-back selections available.
Elhamed always likely to start in any case
In fairness to Frimpong, he was never likely to start this Thursday even if he was available. Despite how much of a breath of fresh air he was, he hasn’t done enough to warrant playing in our European matches.
He’s only made two appearances for the club. The first was a Betfred Cup home clash with Partick Thistle. His matches so far are a totally different environment to Lazio at home on Thursday night.
These games that Frimpong has played in will be great for his development. It’s exactly where Neil Lennon will likely see him making an impact this season.
But Elhamed was surely always going to start this week. The Israeli hasn’t actually played for Celtic since we managed to see off Cluj several weeks ago. He hasn’t played in any of our last two matches, with Bauer playing against Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena just over a fortnight ago.
He’s been Lenny’s go-to for the big games, and that doesn’t look like changing on Thursday night.
As for Bauer, his game-time could easily be eaten into by Frimpong this season. All three right-backs will get chances as the season goes on, but Frimpong has thrown himself into contention for games he may not have been in supporter’s minds. But, one thing’s for sure, he won’t be anywhere near the team for Lazio.
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