New Celtic signing Gustaf Lagerbielke looks set to make his debut for the Bhoys this weekend, just days after making his big move from Elfsborg.
An injury sustained by Cameron Carter-Vickers has ruled him out of the Scottish League Cup trip to Kilmarnock, while Stephen Welsh is also unavailable after picking up a knock in training yesterday.
The defensive partnership looks like it will be the brand new pairing of Maik Nawrocki and Lagerbielke at Rugby Park. Rodgers already sounds comfortable with that, noting that the Swede is already showing up well at Lennoxtown.
The Celtic boss said [Scottish Daily Mail, 19/08 print edition page 107]: “You can tell straight away in training that he is a good communicator. He talks well with his team-mates. He’s got a real nice personality. I’m pleased to get him in. He’s a young player who’s still got a lot of improvement to make but this is a really good next step for him.
“It’s a big step coming to a club like this, a huge club with massive expectations but it’s what players want to do. A lot of these guys are young, they’re on their way up and they want to come and play in big stadiums. For him to come in front of 60,000 every week and feel that pressure and that intensity of a big club, it’ll hopefully inspire him.”
Lagerbielke is also fully match fit and available to come right into the team. He’s played 16 games for Elfsborg since April with the Swedish season on a summer timetable. There should be no doubts about his match sharpness.
It’s a big ask for him to be thrown into a knockout tie at a tough away ground, but nothing will come easy for Celtic throughout this season, so Lagerbielke will have to get up to speed quickly anyway.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers provides update on transfer work at Celtic with ‘pipeline’ talked up.
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