Cameron Carter-Vickers will be back in the fold for Celtic soon, with early October having been earmarked as the American international’s expected return date.
The former Spurs man has been a key part in Celtic’s success over the last two seasons, and he’ll be expected to immediately resume his role in the starting XI upon returning from his hamstring injury.
Despite Carter-Vicker’s importance to the Celtic rearguard, it would be harsh to drop either of the current centre-back pairing. Irishman Liam Scales and new recruit Gustaf Lagerbielke have both been playing out of their skins and putting in gutsy performances since they were thrown into the side, so this could provide something of a welcome dilemma to Brendan Rodgers when Carter Vickers returns.
Gustaf Lagerbielke
The Swede has seen a mainly positive start to life at Celtic. He was unlucky that his debut was a baptism of fire, as Celtic bombed out of the Viaplay Cup against Kilmarnock, which resulted in widespread outrage from supporters.
Since that debut day defeat, however, Lagerbielke has been putting in some good performances, especially in domestic action where Celtic have kept a clean sheet in every league game he has started for Brendan Rodgers.
The only personal blemish on his record was the red card in Rotterdam. Already on a booking against Feyenoord, Lagerbielke showed his lack of experience with a reckless challenge in the box when Joe Hart had him covered.
Lagerbielke was signed by Rodgers as back-up to Carter Vickers and Maik Nawrocki, so he may be the preferred starter over Scales.
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Liam Scales
The Irishman’s resurgent few weeks at Celtic Park has won over the fans. From being written-off and not being considered as part of the first-team plans at Celtic, the 25-year-old has stepped up whenever he’s had to this season, especially in high-pressure games against Rangers at Ibrox and Feyenoord in Rotterdam.
Scales has been a titan aerially and his one-on-one defending has come on leaps and bounds since he first broke into the team at Celtic. There has been the suggestion in some quarters that he should be moved to left-back, but that seems unlikely as he looks like a far stronger centre-half and Greg Taylor’s form has been greatly improved in recent weeks.
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The question is, then, who stays in the side?
Scales deserved the chance to win over the support and he gone on to be one of Celtic’s best players this season.
Celtic fans have loved the comeback stories in recent years with the likes of Anthony Ralston and the aforementioned Greg Taylor reinventing themselves over the last few seasons, and Liam Scales could be the latest player to add to that list.
Added to that, his performance levels will only improve alongside the defensive colossus that is Cameron Carter-Vickers.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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