Celtic winger Maryan Shved wasn’t even on the bench against St Johnstone.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon has told the Daily Record that he left Maryan Shved out of Saturday’s win over St Johnstone in order to go with more defensive cover.
The Bhoys hammered St Johnstone 7-0 on the opening day of the new Scottish Premiership season, with Ryan Christie stealing the show with a hat-trick.
The result didn’t flatter Celtic as they dominated going forward, but fans may have been disappointed not to have seen Shved in action.
Having signed from Karpaty Lviv in January, Shved was sent back to them for the rest of the season, and is only just getting going with his Celtic career now.
The Ukrainian youngster came off the bench to score against Nomme Kalju in the Champions League qualifiers last week, smashing a fine left-footed strike into the net.
Celtic fans became hugely excited about the 22-year-old, even comparing him to former Bhoys hero Lubomir Moravcik, and will have been looking forward to seeing him in action for a Parkhead debut.
However, Shved wasn’t even named on the bench by Celtic against St Johnstone, no doubt leaving some Celtic fans disappointed as his wait for a Parkhead debut goes on.
Now, Lennon has shares his reasoning, claiming that he needed defensive cover on the bench, and was proven right when Hatem Abd Elhamed picked up an injury and was substituted – but he does hope to pick Shved against CFR Cluj this week.
“I hope Shved will be back on Wednesday but I can only pick 18 players,” said Lennon. “With Jozo and Jullien out today, I needed to bolster the bench with defenders just in case and that proved right with the injury to Elhamed. But Marian should be back in the squad. He’s only played 25 minutes in the last few weeks and I’ve got good depth there,” he added.
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