Celtic recorded a convincing Scottish Premiership victory over Motherwell yesterday that also marked the return of Cameron Carter-Vickers after his recent injury problems.
Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston, and Adam Idah made sure of the points so that the Bhoys could reclaim their place at the summit. However, Brendan Rodgers will have been delighted to welcome back his star defender.
Coming off the bench to replace Alex Valle, United States international Cameron Carter-Vickers has recovered from a foot problem and will now be set for starting contention over the coming weeks.
Forming a central part of the defensive unit, it remains to be seen whether Liam Scales or Auston Trusty will partner the Celtic favourite once he starts regularly chalking up appearances in the starting line-up.
Sharing his verdict, Pat Bonner has identified a clear winner between the pair that he thinks should be guaranteed a slot beside Carter-Vickers amid his recent form.
Pat Bonner’s verdict on Celtic’s defensive conundrum
Speaking on Sportsound, Bonner believes Scales should be favoured to partner Carter-Vickers in central defence as his ‘magnificent’ form has been too strong to see the Irishman miss out on a starting place.
He explained: “The other question mark, and they didn’t raise it in commentary, is, who will he put alongside Carter-Vickers if he gets himself back fit? Will it be Trusty, or will it be Scales on that left-hand side?
“Scales went to left-back in this game when Carter-Vickers came on; Trusty went to the left-hand side, so that will be a big decision because Scales has been magnificent over the piece. If he loses out, he will be very disappointed, I’m sure.”
Later, he added on Scales: “Listen, I would go with him. I think he’s done exceptionally well, and Trusty will just have to wait if Carter-Vickers goes automatically into the team, but Trusty did well in midweek because it was a different type of game.
“He’s big, he’s tall, he handled everything in the air that was thrown in there, but I still think I would give it to Scales even though I’m a wee bit biased because he’s Irish! I want him to play and continue to play and develop. His form has been magnificent, and that’s why I think he should be in.”
Brendan Rodgers has confidence in his Celtic backline
Selection headaches can keep managers up at night, but Celtic have great options to choose from across the backline.
Yesterday, Rodgers signalled he is ‘obsessed’ with Celtic’s doing the ‘dirty bit’ of the game in order to smooth the path to clean sheets and comfortable victories, and you can see how important the aggression his defence continually shows can be in slowing late momentum for the opposition.
Seven domestic shut-outs have built the foundation for his side to profit up the other end of the pitch, which is something he will be desperate to continue over the next few matches.
No matter the stage in the season, momentum is critical in constructing the mentality needed to bring silverware back to Celtic Park.
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