Celtic’s trip to take on Livingston could be the ideal opportunity for Ange Postecoglou to hand Oliver Abildgaard his first start for the club.
After signing on transfer deadline day in the summer, the Danish midfielder was handed time to build up his fitness after months away from competitive action.
Celtic supporters have been given small glimpses of the former Rubin Kazan man, who was expected to bring quality to the Hoops midfield three.
However, the 26-year-old is still waiting to make his first start for the club, despite being at Parkhead for over a month now.
Sections of the support expected to see him slot in following the huge injury blow to Callum McGregor. But Matt O’Rley has deputised, sitting in front of the back four.
Although O’Riley has slotted in nicely and looks comfortable enough in that area, it is still clear to see he belongs higher up the pitch under Postecoglou.
So, this weekend could be the ideal opportunity to push the former Fulham man higher up and introduce Abildgaard for his first start on Sunday against Livingston.
Ange Postecoglou’s previous team selections could hint towards a first start for Abildgaard vs Livi.
In recent years, the Toni Macaroni arena has been an extremely tough venue to travel to, under several different managers, including Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon.
The Bhoys struggled to pick up three points on the road against Livi and went on an extremely poor winless run at their home venue.
However, that run was brought to an end by Ange Postecoglou last season, as the Hoops ran out 3-1 winners over the Lions in March of this year.
That day, the Celtic boss made four changes to his starting line-up, which a few supporters were left surprised by at the time, as the likes of Josip Juranovic, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate dropped out.
The 57-year-old introduced players such as Anthony Ralston, Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic to his team, which gave his side a more physical edge against a difficult Livingston side.
Any questions of Postecoglou’s selection were quickly quashed when his team ultimately ran out comfortable winners over David Martindale’s side.
After the success of his changes that day, I don’t think it would be much of a surprise to see the ex-Socceroos boss go with a similar plan. However, with Abildgaard in place of the departed Bitton.
At the same time, Postecoglou has stuck by O’Riley on the big occasion, with the Danish under-21 international playing in that position on the domestic and European front.
But, the Celtic boss knows first-hand how difficult an opponent Martindale’s team can be, after dropping points on two occasions at home and away last campaign.
Following the Hoops’ comfortable Premier Sports Cup victory over Motherwell, the ex-Yokohama F Marinos manager also hinted that we could be about to see more of the midfielder.
So, this weekend could offer up Ange Postecoglou the ideal opportunity to hand his major deadline day signing his first start, with previous precedent showcasing how effective more physicality in the midfield can be at Livingston’s home ground.
In other news, Talented youngster signs new contract after reported Celtic January interest.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
