NEIL Lennon is set to hand new signing Greg Taylor his Celtic debut tomorrow - against the Scotland left back’s former club Kilmarnock.
Boli Bolingoli suffered a groin strain in the second-half of his side’s 1-1 draw with Europa League rivals Rennes in France on Thursday evening.
The Belgian will miss the Ladbrokes Premiership game this weekend and probably the Betfred Cup quarter-final with Partick Thistle at Celtic Park on Wednesday night.
Jonny Hayes came on for Bolingoli in the absence of Taylor in Brittany and helped Lennon’s men secure a point in their opening Group E match.
But his 21-year-old club mate, a £2.2 million capture from the Rugby Park club earlier this month, is set to be fast-tracked into the starting line-up.
“Greg Taylor is good,” he said. “He obviously hadn’t played for a while and did a lot of conditioning work.
“But Bolingoli’s form has been good and when you’re looking at your bench Hayes can play a number of positions. That’s why Greg wasn’t in the squad .
“But with Boli being out for maybe a couple of games, he could be in contention to play.
“Boli won’t be fit for Sunday and will probably miss Partick Thistle. He might be fit for Hibs on Saturday week, but Greg is a contender for Kilmarnock, absolutely. It will be a difficult game for us so it will be good to have him involved.”
Lennon, whose team is looking to record their sixth consecutive Premiership victory, feels the fact that Taylor is ready to step in for the injured Bolingoli shows the strength in depth he has at his disposal.
“I was really happy when the window closed looking at the squad and the depth of the squad and the players we’ve brought in,” he said.
“Goalkeeper is strong, we’ve bolstered the defence with good players and Mohamed Elyounoussi will add to the attacking element we’ve got.
“Nir Bitton and Mikey Johnston aren’t far away from being fit again as well and we’ve got Tom Rogic who is like a new player for us.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here