Emilio Izaguirre’s return to Celtic has been stop-start at best. He replaced the injury Kieran Tierney in the Hoops side until a first-half horror show in the 4-3 win over Aberdeen.
He was replaced by Jonny Hayes at half-time at Pittodrie. Izaguirre didn’t even make the squad for the Hoops’ next game, the 1-0 loss to Rangers.
The fact that he was replaced by Callum McGregor against Rangers may have sounded ominous for his Hoops career.
But Brendan Rodgers has confirmed he is back in the squad for the tie against Valencia.
This will be undeniably Izaguirre’s biggest test since returning to Celtic.
Can he recapture the form which made him such a success in his first spell with the club?
If the player believes in himself then he can turn in a good performance. His performance against Aberdeen wasn’t even that bad.
Brendan Rodgers just seemed irked that he conceded a penalty, even though that was a 50/50 decision.
After dropping Izaguirre against Rangers, the Hoops boss seems to have realised an error in judgement. Putting players out of position is a gamble which rarely pays off. Such was the case with McGregor against Rangers.
If Izaguirre had started perhaps the outcome may have been different.
Brendan Rodgers now seems to believe in him. It is up to the player to show that he believes in himself. He’s still good enough, now he’s got to show it.
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