Celtic’s Marian Shved makes first appearance in nearly seven months for KV Mechelen

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Celtic-owned winger Marian Shved hs finally broken a near seven-month duck after finally making an appearance over the weekend.

Indeed, Shved made his debut for Belgian outfit KV Mechelen in their 1-0 defeat to Gent during Sunday’s Belgian Pro League contest.

The Ukrainian started on the bench before coming on for the final 25 minutes in a bid to find a spark for his new club. Unfortunately, the youngster couldn’t make the difference despite having a pop at goal soon after coming on.

But in the bigger picture it was a landmark day for the Celtic man. His debut for his new temporary club marked his first appearance since coming on as a late substitute in Celtic’s 3-0 Scottish Cup win vs Clyde back on February 9th.

Despite his lack of appearances since then, KV Mechelen boss Wouter Vrancken was still surprised at being able to nab him from Parkhead; claiming that his side were lucky to get a player of his quality (Scottish Sun).

Shved needs games as spot remains up for grabs

It’s telling that Shved has been sent out on loan despite the fact Celtic have a gaping hole down the right wing.

Sure, James Forrest isn’t going to lose his place as the club’s first-choice right winger, but Shved should’ve been the man pushing him all the way and featuring when Forrest needed a break.

Instead, he left Parkhead in search of first-team football this summer with not even a handful of appearances to his name last term.

For now, there is no sign of a right-winger joining the club, and that should please Shved. His goal should now be to make himself a serious stand-out in Belgium and pile the pressure on Neil Lennon to give him more minutes upon his return at the end of the season.

It would be foolish to expect fireworks from the Ukrainian starlet right away of course. Considering he only made three appearances last season and didn’t get a single-minute of action in pre-season, it’s going to take him plenty of time to get up to speed.

However, this is a loan spell we’ll be keeping an eye on as the season progresses. There remains an opportunity in this Celtic squad for a capable right-winger to come in and challenge. Shved can’t give up on being that man just yet.

In other news, a report from Italy has claimed that Celtic remain interested in an expensive Serie A defender.