As Celtic prepare to face Falkirk in the League Cup this weekend, Luis Palma has been told what he needs to do to get back into Brendan Rodgers’ starting lineup.
The Honduran international has struggled to reclaim his spot ever since picking up an injury against Kilmarnock on the opening day of the season.
On top of that, the form of Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest has also meant that Palma faces the difficult task of even getting off the bench after being an unused substitute in the Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava midweek.
However, despite that, Luis Palma has been told exactly what he must do to get himself back in contention for a starting spot at Celtic so he can be a regular starter once again.
Palma needs to hit the gym at Celtic
Honduras legend, Rambo de Leon, has been speaking about Palma’s struggles at Celtic and believes that his fellow countryman needs to work on his physicality.
De Leon has played for the likes of Torino, Parma and Genoa over the course of his career and also picked up 83 caps for his country before he retired so is well-placed to offer the Celtic winger some words of advice.
De Leon told Deportes TVC, “The boy has been recovering from a knock, let’s hope he gets back to his best so he can return to the starting line-up.”
“It is difficult to return to the starting line-up when you are injured, you have enough capacity to do it, you have to be a bit more aggressive because nowadays you have to know how to kick, to make yourself respected.”
“He has the technical quality, but physically he is unbalanced, he needs to do a bit more gym, when he manages to get that he will be a starter wherever he is.”
Palma’s big season at Celtic
Palma had a blistering start to his career at Celtic as he made his mark not only on the domestic scene but also in the Champions League last season.
However, he struggled to re-capture that form and faded onto the Celtic bench in the second half of last season.
With Brendan Rodgers adding more quality to the Celtic squad over the summer and looking to strengthen again in January, Palma needs to produce the goods as the Celtic boss has already proven that if he believes a player won’t do a job for him, he will be ruthless and move them on.
Palma does have the quality to shine as he proved on the US Tour, if he gets his chance this afternoon against Falkirk, then the Honduran will need to show the Celtic boss he has listened to his advice and has a place at Paradise.
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