There were plenty of positives to take for Celtic over the course of the international break.
Mohamed Elyounoussi scored against Northern Ireland for Norway. Ryan Christie also bagged two goals that required an ice-cool approach from the penalty spot. Nir Bitton and Hatem Elhamed looked solid at the back for Israel too.
However, the biggest boost Celtic supporters and indeed Neil Lennon could’ve had from the internationals was what happened with both Odsonne Edouard and Patryk Klimala respectively.
Edouard went into the international break with a knock after missing two consecutive games for the club. However, he comes back to Parkhead this week having netted against both Georgia and Azerbaijan respectively.
French Eddy may have only played 18 minutes of the Georgia clash last Friday, but he managed 70 against Azerbaijan on Monday. He’s coming back to Parkhead ready to play once again, meaning the manager can drop the idea of playing without a recognised striker.
He also gets a nice five-day wait before he has to travel to Dingwall with the Hoops. That gives him plenty of recovery time before he has to play again.
And it also looks as though we’re going to have some depth there outside of Edouard after Klimala managed 90 minutes against Russia.
In recent weeks for Celtic, Lennon has consistently pinpointed that Klimala isn’t match-fit. He stated after the recent 3-0 win at home to Motherwell that the former Jaggielonia Bialystok striker was “really blowing towards the end” after playing for 45 minutes (Scottish Sun).
It’s an issue that has effectively cost us Champions League football and led to us struggling in certain games early on in the campaign. Lennon has at times had to go with Ryan Christie up top, or indeed settle for just one natural forward in Edouard.
Eddy back from injury and Klimala fit to play
Yet Klimala managed to play an integral role in his Poland under-21 side’s success over the last week in both matches, suggesting our depth issue up top is now fixed.
Klimala also starred in Poland’s 6-0 win over Estonia’s under-21s last Thursday when he managed 77 minutes of action. To then be available to feature for another 90 minutes suggests that he’s more than just half-fit. The striker is clearly ready to start playing more regularly.
Both Edouard’s and Klimala’s return to action is key considering Albian Ajeti is still clearly building up his own fitness/match sharpness.
The Swiss forward has two goals in two domestic games, but hasn’t played anymore than 19 minutes in a single game for Celtic. Having another fit option available is a essential to our continued domestic success.
It may be unlikely, but Klimala’s minutes for Poland prove that he’s ready to start against Ross County on Saturday if necessary. His under-21 boss, Czeslaw Michniewicz, is an experienced tactician and would’ve known if Klimala needed to be subbed earlier in both games.
If you’re a betting man of course, it’s Edouard that goes straight into the starting XI on Saturday at Ross County. But if Lennon wants to go with two up top, he’ll finally have a fully-fit Klimala to bring up.
Going into the international break, we couldn’t have asked for any more coming out of it.
In other news, Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi has finally explained the meaning behind his “A” celebration.
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