Three Celtic men we could see drafted in against Motherwell to rejuvenate Brendan Rodgers’ side

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Celtic travel to Motherwell on Sunday keen to get back to winning ways after a frustrating draw against Kilmarnock last weekend.

Kyogo Furuhashi’s delightful opening goal in the 32nd minute looked to set Brendan Rodgers’ men on their way; however, they couldn’t see three points over the line, owing to a late effort from visiting midfielder David Watson.

In the last few days, there has been another inquest as to where things went wrong, given the Bhoys let points slip in the Scottish Premiership for the seventh time this season.

Regardless, the title race is far from over as we look ahead to a trip to Fir Park, which has been a happy hunting ground for the Bhoys over the last few years.

Last September, it was also the scene of one of the most dramatic moments of the campaign so far, where Matt O’Riley struck with the last kick of the ball to grant Celtic a dramatic victory in the 97th minute, despite the hosts pegging us back just moments earlier through Blair Spittal.

Without further ado, 67 Hail Hail takes a look at three players whom Rodgers could draft in to freshen up his side in North Lanarkshire.

Maik Nawrocki

A lot has been made of the lack of swift ball progression from deep in recent weeks, and Maik Nawrocki has proven he is capable of breaking the lines with his vision in his nine appearances for the Hoops so far [Transfermarkt].

The 23-year-old has no outlying issues regarding the quality of his distribution, taking into account he has recorded an 87% pass accuracy rate in the Scottish Premiership, which is matched by his precision in the opposition half, according to Sofascore statistics.

Granted, he struggled against Aberdeen on his last league start, picking up a yellow card that could’ve easily become a dismissal before Rodgers replaced him with Stephen Welsh to avoid a horror scenario.

Nevertheless, we did spend £4.3 million on Nawrocki last summer, and he hasn’t done too much wrong apart from that to warrant being left out most weeks.

On the face of it, bringing Nawrocki to the fore at the weekend may be a worthwhile trade-off to accelerate Celtic’s build-up play.

Paulo Bernardo

Paulo Bernardo did claim Reo Hatate’s slot in midfield over the Christmas period amid the latter’s absence due to injury, though he has been left out over the last couple of matches amid Rodgers’ switch to a two-man attack involving Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah.

On the contrary, if Celtic were to revert back to their more familiar come Sunday, Portugal Under-21 cap Bernardo would be likely to return to the fold in the engine room.

Across 705 minutes on league duty, the 22-year-old has taken 45 touches in the opposition area alongside registering 26 shots in total, gaining an average Fotmob match rating of 7.25/10 for his displays.

Defensively, his tenacity has helped him win 49 duels, demonstrating that the Almada-born man offers something at both ends of the pitch.

Motherwell will be up for a physical battle, and selecting Bernardo could help to infuse the right blend of running power and attacking prowess for Rodgers to emerge with three points.

Rocco Vata

Admittedly, this one is more of a rogue suggestion; however, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to throw Rocco Vata in on the flank to add an element of unpredictability in attack.

Clarity is still yet to be reached over his future at Parkhead, with talks ongoing over a contract extension, though he has been involved in matchday squads since the turn of the year [Football Scotland].

The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international has netted 14 times in 24 outings combining his exploits at senior and youth levels this term, making him someone who does carry a tangible goal threat [Transfermarkt].

At just 18, he is still an unquantifiable presence, yet Celtic have lacked variety in the forward areas over recent weeks, scoring just three goals from open play in their last four league encounters, signifying this may not be a bad thing.

Last month, Rodgers endorsed Vata’s potential following his maiden goal against Buckie Thistle, so why not put this to the test at Fir Park amid the underwhelming performances of our other wide-men?