Brendan Rodgers’ comments on Anthony Ralston’s Celtic future could be about to come true

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Anthony Ralston’s role at Celtic was referenced by Brendan Rodgers at the tail end of last season as the Scotland international is now into his eighth year in the senior fold.

Despite once looking certain to exit the club, the Lennoxtown graduate has now surpassed a century of Bhoys appearances, registering eight goals and 16 assists.

Speaking in May, Brendan Rodgers addressed Anthony Ralston’s Celtic future, forecasting that the 25-year-old would have a more prominent role in 2024/25 under his stewardship.

He stated: “He will feature more for me next season. Part of this season was that Ali (Johnston) was the first choice. Tony came in and played some games. Ali had been out for a while so when he came back from injury I needed to get him games to get him up to speed. That meant that Tony hadn’t played so much.

“But there are a few things with Tony. One, I know he is always ready because if he is not playing in games his training is the game. So he trains every day and his standard, quality, and mentality are like that of a game.”

With the international break around the corner, there is cause to believe Rodgers’ comments on Ralston at Celtic could be about to take on more significance.

Anthony Ralston’s chances of Celtic involvement

Continuing down the international break road, Celtic’s Alistair Johnston has been left out of Canada’s squad for their upcoming Nations League clashes against Panama and Mexico.

Jesse Marsch admitted after making his selections that Johnston is ‘rehabbing’ a back injury, which is likely to see him miss the Bhoys’ trip to Ross County this Sunday.

In that case, Ralston will likely step in for his seventh appearance of the season. Crucially, it would be his first Scottish Premiership start, with his only other inclusion from the beginning coming against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.

The question in this case is, could that be a sign of things to come as Celtic look to rotate their squad to handle an intense fixture schedule that will test their mettle on all fronts?

Celtic’s fixture schedule could favour Anthony Ralston

Alongside giving Johnston a wide berth to get himself fully sharp, Rodgers has clarified Celtic are comfortable making changes anyway to supplement the ‘cost’ of operating in his high-octane tactical framework.

Expanding, he said: “There’s a big cost to how we play, there’s a cost in energy, and when that starts to drop a little bit, that ability to make changes to sustain that is very important.”

Looking at Celtic’s next six fixtures across all competitions, you can see the challenge of midweek matches starting to kick in, which will require alterations to help maintain the intensity of the Bhoys’ flying start to the season domestically.

Ralston is likely to gain minutes across this period, and Rodgers’ pledge surrounding his involvement could be about to take on a whole new level of significance with the factors explained taken into account.