Tomas Cvancara was welcomed to Celtic after being thrown in for his debut in the fiery 2-2 draw with Hearts.
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill started Cvancara for the Tynecastle clash and the Czech striker immediately paid back his gaffer’s faith.
Setting up Hyunjun Yang for his goal in Celtic’s draw against Hearts, 25-year-old Cvancara was unlucky not to score on two occasions in the big Tynecastle clash.
Is Martin O’Neill correct? The Celtic boss was fuming!
Lasting 66 minutes before he was taken off, O’Neill shares a worrying update on Cvancara as the Celtic manager explained why he took his new signing off with more than a quarter of the game to go.
Martin O’Neill ‘worried’ about Celtic striker Tomas Cvancara’s hamstring
Cvancara enjoyed a decent Celtic debut in the draw against Hearts after the Czech striker created the assist for Hyunjun Yang’s goal.
Not long after, the Celtic striker was taken off as O’Neill reveals the reason why.
O’Neill told the post-match press conference via SSN, “Yeah, once he get used to the surroundings, a difficult game for him to come into.
“I thought his run for the goals was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So, he’ll do fine for us during the course of time when he gets to know about all he’s had is a couple of training sessions with his teammates.
“But yeah, he’s got really good pace. Did well, has good control, and I was really pleased with him.
“He was holding his hamstring. I was worried about that, and that’s why we replaced him.”
Martin O’Neills post-match Celtic press conference in full.
Celtic boss shares why he was 'worried' about Tomas Cvancara's hamstring.
Tomas Cvancara’s stats for Celtic debut vs Hearts
Cvancara looked a bit rusty but he didn’t half cause Hearts problems for the 66 minutes of football he played.
Strong and physical, the on-loan Gladbach striker gave the Hearts defence plenty to think about as Cvancara put himself about.
Here are his full stats from Fotmob:
- Minutes: 66
- Rating: 7.5
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 1
- Total shots: 2
- Accurate passes: 8/12 (67%)
- Chances created: 2
- Shots on target: 0/2 (0%)
- Blocked shots: 1
- Hit woodwork: 1
- Touches: 21
- Touches in opposition box: 3
- Passes into final third: 2
- Ground duels won: 3/7 (43%)
- Aerial duels won: 4/11 (36%)
- Was fouled: 2
With Kelechi Iheanacho also back from injury, Celtic’s attacking options are starting to look a lot healthier heading into the business end of the season.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
