It was Celtic’s rotation players who came to the rescue mid-week against St Mirren as the likes of Oh Hyeon-gyu, Yang Hyun-jun and Odin Thiago Holm all came on from the bench to provide the creative spark needed to see off the Buddies on Wednesday night.
Yang caused problems for a tired St Mirren defence whilst Odin Holm provided the assist for Oh’s winning goal with under 10 minutes to play.
In recent weeks, there have been some grumbles around the lack of quality on the bench, but Brendan’s trio of fringe players put paid to some of those criticisms on Wednesday night.
The top performances from the bench may impact Rodgers’ thinking with regards to team selection for tomorrow’s trip to Dingwall to take on Malky MacKay’s Ross County side,but who makes the cut?
Maik Nawrocki
Bringing the Pole back into the starting XI could very well be a move that Rodgers could make for Saturday’s game. Rodgers seems to be going through the gears with rotating the team over the last few weeks, and with Cameron Carter-Vickers getting rested against St Mirren mid-week, tomorrow could provide the opportunity for Liam Scales to get some rest whilst also allowing the Pole some vital first-team minutes to help himself get up back up to speed following his injury.
Rodgers paid around£5million to secure his services so will be eager to get him back in the team as soon as possible, and tomorrow’s game could provide a relatively risk-free opportunity to do just that.
Odin Thiago Holm
Holm was incredibly effective from the bench against Stephen Robinson’s Buddies, with a great bit of skill to shimmy past the St Mirren defenders and unlock the defence with an incisive pass for Oh Hyeon-gyu to finish off.
The Norwegian, much like the aforementioned Nawrocki, was impressive in the early stages of the season but his momentum was hit by an injury that had him sidelined for a good few weeks.
At just 20-year-old, there is plenty of room to improve in his game, and with Rodgers testing the waters as to who will fills in for Reo Hatate with both Paulo Bernardo and David Turnbull having started in his place, it may be time for Holm to get another starting opportunity in the first-team again.
Yang Hyun-jun
Yang could get another opportunity from a starting position this weekend, but out of all curveballs mentioned this one seems to be the least likely.
Palma was surprisingly substituted early on in the second-half against St Mirren, but Yang made an instant impact, causing problems for the visitors’ defence with his pace and trickery.
The only concern with the South Korean would be that he seems like he may be an impact player, with his strongest displays in a Celtic shirt coming from the bench and his most criticised displays coming from starting positions.
Given the poor form of the Staggies, Yang could be afforded the chance to prove he can produce the goods from a starting position this weekend.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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