Neil Lennon may be tempted to hand a debut to recent recruit Jeremie Frimpong when Celtic take on Partick Thistle in midweek.
The Hoops host their Glasgow rivals on Wednesday night in the quarter-final of the Betfred Cup. Lennon is expected to make a few changes for the clash, with the club’s hectic schedule in mind.
The Northern Irishman confirmed to press on Tuesday that Moritz Bauer was unlikely to be fit for the match.
That could open the door for 18-year-old Jeremie Frimpong to perhaps get a chance.
It would be good to see Frimpong get Celtic debut
Lennon does, of course, still have Hatem Abd Elhamed but he may be reluctant to play the Israel international with some big games on the horizon. The former Hapoel Be’er Sheva man has played a lot of football recently and may be best served resting his legs further after having a break at the weekend.
And if Lennon decides to rest Elhamed then Frimpong may be the natural choice to fill the right-back role. The former Manchester City youngster is highly rated and won’t have come to the club just to play reserve football.
Frimpong was front and centre of training at Lennoxtown on Tuesday, seen regularly with Scott Brown. Make of that what you will.
The game against Thistle gives us a perfect opportunity to blood some youngsters like Frimpong. Assuming we still get the core of the team spot on then there should be no problems in progressing to the next round too.
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