The curious case of Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston

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This’ll sound harsh, but be honest: when was the last time you thought about Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston?

Another youth academy prospect who’s slipped through the cracks, it’s easy to forget that Ralston is actually in the Celtic first-team squad.

Yet, it’s hard to envision a future for him at the club. At 22, he’s been forgotten.

The Glasgow-born full-back was on loan at St. Johnstone last season. In one season, he made 24 appearances (Transfermarkt), which is more than he’s ever made at Celtic.

The last real news we heard involving Ralston was that he’d been in a car crash near Milton of Campsie (Daily Record). Before that, the latest was that he had no future at Celtic.

So, with the January transfer window coming up, and Hatem Ebd Elhamed reportedly half out of the door, the 22-year-old and the club have big decisions to make.

What now for Celtic and Ralston?

You’d have thought that if Neil Lennon fancied using Ralston, he’d have done so by now.

Ex-manager Brendan Rodgers clearly saw something in the full-back’s game, playing him in matches against PSG and Rangers. Yet, Lennon has left him out of match day squads, even with right-back being a problem position.

Frimpong has the position locked, but he needs back-up. With Elhamed out of form or missing through injury, Lennon has experimented with Kristoffer Ajer on the right of a 4, with Jullien and Duffy in the middle. Even Ewan Henderson has been preferred, specifically against Lille.

Ralston is Celtic-daft and clearly his heart is still in it. He’s been spotted training with the first team, but you get the feeling Neil Lennon just doesn’t trust him. It’s hard to know why, exactly, from a supporter’s perspective. It’s honestly been so long since he played for Celtic that it’s difficult to remember his qualities and deficiencies.

You’d expect Ralston to depart in January on loan. But you’d be forgiven for thinking that if clubs were really clamouring for his services, he’d be out already. There haven’t even been substantial rumours linking the young right-back to another club.

It’s extremely curious.

Frimpong can’t play every match, and Celtic may get an offer they can’t refuse from Italy for the young Dutchman (Glasgow Live). Just as we spoke about the left-backs yesterday, this moment in time is specifically for Lennon to assess his squad and trim it if needs be.

Ralston risks further career stagnation if he can’t either convince Lenny that he’s worth keeping, or he can’t secure first-team football elsewhere.

His agent needs to get their skates on. In any event, it’s another potentially sad story about a Celtic youngster who just couldn’t cut it at first-team level.