Celtic will face off against Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton in the Cup on Saturday afternoon – will Thomas O’Ware be lining up for the visitors?
Thomas O’Ware was one of the stars of Scotland’s second tier last season and his performances were so impressive for Greenock Morton that Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers sent scouts to watch him in action, as reported by The Mail.
The versatile defender netted 11 goals for Morton last season with his modern style seemingly appealing to Scotland’s two biggest clubs.
While Celtic’s interest in the one-time Rangers youth player has been largely forgotten about in recent months, O’Ware has the ideal opportunity to remind the Scottish Premiership champions of his quality on Saturday.
O’Ware will be part of the Morton squad aiming to cause a major shock and defeat Celtic in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup at Parkhead and deny Brendan Rodgers’ team another clear run at a domestic treble.
It will not be the 24-year-old’s finishing skills that will be put under examination, however, but his defensive nous.
Celtic will likely go full strength against their second tier opponents, meaning O’Ware will be forced to pit his wits against the likes of Moussa Dembele or Leigh Griffiths at Parkhead. Quite the challenge for a player who spends most of his time up against second rate strikers in the second tiers rather than £30 million goal-machines or Scotland number nines.
But if Celtic do want another defender in the summer, with doubts surrounding the futures of Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata, a good performance from O’Ware may give Rodgers some food for thought.
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