Marco Tilio is closing in on his long-awaited Celtic debut after taking a big step at the weekend.
The Australian winger was part of a Celtic XI side that took on Ayr United in a testimonial for Michael Moffat. Tilio was joined by the likes of Mikey Johnston and Yuki Kobayashi in a mainly B team line-up as the Hoops earned a 1-1 draw.
Wearing our new dark green third kit, the diminutive attacker played on the right-hand side against the Championship outfit.
While information from the match has been fairly minimal — Celtic haven’t even released an official report — supporters can still see Tilio take his first on-pitch steps as a Hoops player.
A YouTube user, going by the name Saida Wiseman, was present at Somerset Park and filmed a good portion of the encounter. They have uploaded the 13-minute footage to YouTube. (Saida Wiseman on YouTube)
The video shows plenty of Tilio as well as fellow new signing Hyeokkyu Kwon — also yet to make his competitive debut for the club.
After coming through the weekend fixture, Tilio’s Celtic debut now looks imminent. It seems likely to us that he will be included in the matchday squad for Motherwell this weekend. He may even get a first run-out from the bench if things are going well.
Tilio is not registered for our UEFA Champions League campaign so he could prove to be a valuable option domestically between now and the January winter break.
It would be good to see him make his debut this weekend.
In other news, the latest on Matt O’Riley’s future after stellar Celtic form
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