Jozo Simunovic returned for Celtic last night.
Celtic’s Jozo Simunovic celebrates scoring their second goal
Brendan Rodgers has told Celtic’s official website he is excited by Jozo Simunovic’s potential.
The defender made his first start of the season for the club last night in the 2-0 Betfred Cup win over Alloa, and Rodgers was impressed with his performance.
Simunovic came off the bench at the weekend against Inverness, and last night was the first time he had started a game in nine months.
New Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during the press conference
Rodgers said he believes Simunovic is a very useful player who can be of real benefit to his squad.
He said: “He looks a top player, I’m talking more in training than games because he only came into the game in Inverness and obviously we planned to try to get him game time tonight.
“If you look at his profile, he’s 6′ 3”, very dominant, strong, quick, can serve the ball and for a young player he shows wonderful mentality.
“He’s really aggressive and defends forward so he’s a player I really like and if you see him in training he’s very impressive. Hopefully he can stay fit and keep looking to make his way into the team.”
Celtic’s Jozo Simunovic in action
Rodgers’ comments show that he is not ready to hand Simunovic a regular starting role just yet, but at the same time he would not be averse to throwing him in if he had to.
The clean sheet against Alloa was a good early sign, and certainly Celtic could do with Simunovic stepping up and becoming a key contributor, with regular starter Kolo Toure in his mid-30s.
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