Brendan Rodgers won’t be clearing a path to the Celtic first team for Maik Nawrocki.
The defender was Celtic’s most expensive summer signing, costing £4.3m from Legia Warsaw which virtually matched the fee that was about to come in from Celta Vigo for Carl Starfelt.
Nawrocki started the first three matches of the season but a hamstring injury late on in the League Cup defeat at Kilmarnock put him out of contention amid something of a crisis in central defence.
Liam Scales and Gus Lagerbielke kept clean sheets in the next two matches, including, critically at Ibrox while Nat Phillips arrived on loan from Liverpool.
Nawrocki was left out of Celtic’s Champions League squad, while he watched from the sidelines Scales has blossomed into the left sided central defender that was always missing from Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Now recovered from injury the young Pole is in full training but failed to make the matchday squad at Tynecastle, barring injury he isn’t expected to be in the squad that takes on Hibs today at Easter Road.
Rodgers currently has four central defenders ahead of Nawrocki who could be looking at a long spell out of contention judging by the tone of his manager to a question at Friday’s media conference.
9 minutes 45 seconds
Question: Can I ask you about Maik Nawrocki. Is the challenge for you to give him game time so he is available?
Answer: It is not a challenge. It’s a game. It is not under-10s where you have got to play everyone every week. We bring the players in to compete and fight for the shirt. Unfortunately for Maik, he was out for a number of weeks and people have come in and did exceptionally well. He will now have to fight and work for his place in the team. He will also play games. It is a long season and it is still very early in the season and he is doing very well in training.
Phillips looks like returning to Liverpool in January which will ease the congestion in that area of the side.
With Stephen Welsh also returning from injury Rodgers will have the Academy graduate, Nawrocki and Lagerbielke as back-up to Scales and Carter-Vickers who are the men in possession after three appearances together in central defence.
Yuki Kobayashi is expected to go out on loan to a J-League team when the January transfer window opens up.
