Ange Postecoglou backs James McCarthy to come good for Celtic once the midfielder has built up his fitness after arriving at Parkhead without any pre-season, via the Daily Record.
The Bhoys moved to sign McCarthy to a four-year contract in August after he left Crystal Palace in June. Departing south London as a free agent at the expiration of his Eagles deal.
But the Republic of Ireland international has only featured nine times since and started just three of his outings. He has also not played a second in the Premiership since September.
McCarthy’s last Premiership outing and start came as Celtic drew 1-1 with Dundee United. Postecoglou also took the Glasgow-born 31-year-old off at half-time due to an injury.
The issue did not prevent him from featuring as an unused substitute at Aberdeen prior to the October international break. But a muscular injury kept him from the next three games.
Postecoglou backs McCarthy to ‘show his quality’ at Celtic
McCarthy returned from his muscular problem at the end of last month and again featured on the bench before the latest international break.
Postecoglou expects to hand McCarthy chances to show his quality in Celtic’s next fixtures. As the 42-cap midfielder has struggled after a lack of pre-season put him on the back foot.
“I don’t like making excuses for players. They understand the responsibilities that they have,” Postecoglou said. “Especially guys like James McCarthy, and Giakoumakis is another who falls into that category.
“We signed them when they had already left their clubs. They hadn’t done a pre-season and they were training on their own.
“Any footballer will tell you pre-season is the most crucial part of the year, so we’ve just got to be patient with them.
“They’re both training hard. They’ve had some little injuries, which isn’t surprising because they haven’t done pre-season.
“We train hard. The intensity in training is super tough, and it takes time to adjust to that. James will get an opportunity and I’m sure when he does, he’ll show his quality.”
Postecoglou will hope McCarthy can offer more in Celtic’s upcoming fixtures than he has managed over the past month.
The Bhoys play 12 games across all competitions over the next seven-weeks before the Scottish winter break.
They also play three times within eight-days coming out of the current international break. While having at most three-days between fixtures from December 2 to December 18. A run including six games, and could feature the League Cup final if Celtic beat St Johnstone.
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