Celtic have been coming in for a lot of criticism lately. Performances haven’t matched the heights of the past two seasons and, if truth be told, Brendan Rodgers’ side have struggled to put teams away.
The attacking intent that we had gotten so used to under Ange Postecoglou seems to have disappeared and, at times, the defence has looked shaky when put under pressure.
But it was the back four that was really worrying pundit, Tam McManus, ahead of the Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren at the weekend.
Injury problems meant that Brendan Rodgers had to do a complete reshuffle. Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston were replaced with Alexandro Bernabei and Anthony Ralston.
And with Cameron Carter-Vickers still out injured, McManus feared that the Celtic defence would have been exposed by the St Mirren frontmen.
McManus said [PLZ Soccer], “I thought Celtic defending strongly. I looked at the Celtic back four and I thought, ‘St Mirren may get something here today’.
“But to be fair to Scales and Welsh I thought they were solid. St Mirren put you under pressure and put crosses in the box and they defended well.
“So a great cup tie. Celtic were more clinical and that was the difference.”
Liam Scales has been an absolute rock for Celtic this season. On the verge of leaving the club in the summer, a defensive injury crisis meant that Rodgers had to call on the Republic of Ireland international and he has barely put a foot wrong.
As for Welsh, despite injury curtailing the start of his season, he has also proven to be dependable whenever he has been given the nod by the Celtic manager.
Both players equipped themselves well in Paisley but there is no doubt that when Carter-Vickers is ready to step back into the side, Welsh will find himself back on the Celtic bench.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers opens up on tactical switch involving Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi
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