Martin O’Neill has addressed the clamour from Celtic fans to make more use of Kelechi Iheanacho.
The striker has been unable to find a consistent run of the games in the team this season, leading to constant questions over his fitness.
However, his contribution in Celtic’s semi-final win over St Mirren last week has whetted the appetite of many supporters to see him in from the start.
There’s only one man who makes that decision… so what’s O’Neill’s verdict?
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Martin O’Neill: ‘definitely a case’ to start Kelechi Iheanacho
Asked about the ‘clamour’ from fans for Iheanacho to start, the interim Celtic boss said: “Actually, it’s more important as the weeks have gone on.
“He came on at Dundee, scored the goal probably at that stage in the proceedings, probably the only one that would have got us the goal at the time.
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“He’s followed that up there by scoring some goals, took them brilliantly.
“And, yes, I think he would like to start in the game. Daizen Maeda started this press from centre-forward position, got us the goal early on.
“And, yeah, there’s definitely a case for thinking about Iheanacho starting in matches. I think he would love to do it.
“Not having completed it in 90 minutes for quite some considerable time, as I thought. But he also started as well up at Dundee United.
“I don’t think it was his fault. He had a great chance. The goalkeeper made a really good save after half an hour in the game.
“But, I’m not saying it didn’t work for the team as such. But, overall, he has made a big impact in the last couple of weeks. And it looks as if he’s staying fit.
“No, [it’s not about injury risk]. You know what? You can pick up an injury in training and things like this. I don’t think so.
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“It’s not the way I looked at it 20-odd years ago. I know things have changed and I have to adjust my head to the new-fangled way of thinking and dealing with players. It gets harder every minute. But I have accepted it.
“In a serious moment, he’s done really well. He’s looking very, very strong. And I think with the confidence now and I think with us showing a serious trust in him now, I think he really wants to do it.
“And I think that’s a lovely thing about it. You can see that he’s been a player. His control is really good.
“Honestly, I’ve been really pleased with him. He could easily start. He could easily start in the games,” he concluded.
Iheanacho has scored six goals since coming to Glasgow on a free transfer, but could’ve easily had more if he had been able, or selected, to play more games.
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