Brendan Rodgers’ named his Celtic XI to face Rangers this afternoon and eyebrows were raised.
Celtic fans debated the lineup against their old rivals after a handful of enforced changes were made by the manager. Captain Callum McGregor misses the game through a calf injury after it was revealed he had trained individually this week.
Rumours also first circulated about Auston Trusty’s fitness and that ultimately turned out to be true with the American also sitting out of the action.
Liam Scales was already sidelined through injury and that left Celtic short at the back. So the boss was forced to call upon a forgotten defender to come in from the cold to start in the form of Maik Nawrocki.
Maik Nawrocki is ‘big question mark’ for Celtic start vs Rangers
For BBC Sportsound pundit Steven Thompson, he feels that is the “big question mark” hanging over the Celtic starting side at Celtic Park this afternoon.
And the ex-Ibrox striker feels his old side could potentially get at the Poland national.
“Nawrocki is the bigger question mark (than Engels replacing McGregor),” Thompson said. “Just having not played and this fixture is a million miles an hour, you can’t hear yourself think, hard to take a breath, it’s absolutely relentless.
“So that’s gonna be the big question mark and if you’re Barry Ferguson in the other changing room you’re telling Cerny and Dessers to get at him and see how he copes. It’s a big afternoon for Nawrocki and an opportunity he probably didn’t see coming considering how limited his football has been.
“It’s one he’s got to go take with both hands, a good chance to put his name back in the manager’s thoughts.”
What Celtic coach has said about Nawrocki starting vs Rangers
Nawrocki has played just twice this term with both games coming against lower league opposition in the Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup respectively.
In total, the 24-year-old has played 15 times for the club since he arrived in 2023 and that doesn’t necessarily bode well for the derby match in front of him.
Coach Stephen McManus, though, is convinced Nawrocki will come in and do a job as he insists the centre-half trains well every day and is always ready.
He told the Beeb: “How you perform in training every day stands you in good stead.
“The way Maik trains every day, he trains very well so there’ll be no problems. Maik will be ready.”
‘If I were Barry Ferguson…’ The ‘big question mark’ over Celtic before Rangers clash
