Celtic have ramped things up at Lennoxtown as pre-season hits its stride.
Returning to training this week were key figures like Kieran Tierney, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and new signing Benjamin Nygren, all being put through their paces under Brendan Rodgers’ watchful eye. Fans are also still waiting to see Callum Osland, who has been training but didn’t debut against Queens Park.
Their pre-season kicked off with a 1–0 win over Queen’s Park on Friday, in what, must be said, was a typical first pre-season game that fans will forget in a few weeks.
Next up will be a trip to Ireland to face Cork City on Tuesday, followed by a behind-closed-doors friendly against Estrela da Amadora on Saturday.
Rodgers was quizzed on the staggered return of the international contingent and told CeltsAreHere: “Yes, well, some of them, again, are staggered. We’ve got a number of them back today. Obviously, Alistair will come back a little bit later. But we’ve got a good group of them back in today.”
Match by match, we’ll get a stronger side out going through their paces, preparing for the season ahead.
Alistair Johnston will be the last player back, just finishing his international duties last week, in what was a really long and hard season for the full-back.
Young right-back Colby Donovan looked bright last night, so maybe he’ll get more of a chance over the next few weeks of pre-season. He’s someone that Brendan Rodgers rated highly, it seems.
