Five Celtic fringe players who may be encouraged by Brendan Rodgers’ recent comments

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Celtic have the Scottish Premiership title wrapped up, and Brendan Rodgers has confirmed plans to rotate the squad.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers has put the Celtic squad on alert by telling the club’s official website that he may consider using some of the fringe players within the team during the final weeks of the Scottish Premiership season with the title already wrapped up.

“Between now and the end of the campaign I’ll look at some of the fringe players getting some game-time,” he told the club’s official website. “There will be some changes but I don’t give up places just for the sake of it.”

But which players will take the most encouragement from Rodgers’ comments? Here are five that may perhaps enjoy extra minutes in the coming weeks…

Cristian Gamboa

The right-back has endured a difficult first year at Celtic, having struggled to oust Mikael Lustig from the right-back role. His recent form has been slightly more promising, so perhaps a prolonged run in the league may be on the cards.

Anthony Ralston

Anthony Ralston has made one appearance for the Celtic first-team this season, but has played regularly for the youth side. With Celtic rarely under much pressure defensively, the 18-year-old may relish the chance to get some more minutes under his belt before the pressure hits again next term.

Celtic’s Gary Mackay-Steven

Gary Mackay-Steven

It has definitely been a frustrating time for Mackay-Steven, with just eight appearances coming in the Scottish Premiership this term. He will be hoping if given the chance, he can experience something like the same upturn that Stuart Armstrong has enjoyed this year.

Liam Henderson

Liam Henderson certainly has the potential to be an important player for Celtic in the future, and may perhaps be the ideal candidate to come in for more game-time in the coming weeks. He is arguably good enough to make significantly more than 10 league appearances in a season.

Jack Aitchison

Jack Aitchison somewhat stole the show when he made his first-team debut at the age of 16 on the final day of last season, scoring the final goal in the 7-0 win. He has made a couple of appearances since, but may get a better run now the title is wrapped up. It may also be tempting for Rodgers to try and keep Moussa Dembele out of the limelight ahead of the summer window.

Celtic’s Jack Aitchison celebrates scoring