Celtic’s first pre-season match of the summer saw them ease to a 6-1 win over Austrian side SC Pinkafeld. The game was all about getting players match sharp for the Champions League qualifier against Sarajevo in a fortnight.
Some players could have enhanced their chance of featuring in that game after performing well against Pinkfeld. One of those players is Karamoko Dembele.
Ready for first-team football
The prodigy stood out for the Hoops in another good performance which showed that he is ready for first-team football.
He didn’t play the full game, but he showed plenty in the time he had on the pitch. One great pass in particular set Jack Aitchison through on goal, but he was wrongly flagged offside.
Obviously Celtic will not want to rush Dembele’s progression as a player. After all, he has only played one first-team game.
Part of the first-team squad
However, as Neil Lennon recently pointed out, he is part of the first-team squad now. He should be in the squad for the ties against Sarajevo if that is the case.
The Hoops are next in pre-season action when they take on Wiener SC on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if Dembele starts that game.
If he does it could mean that he is in Lennon’s thoughts for a start against Sarajevo. That would be a real test for Dembele at the early stage of his career.
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