Celtic: 3 players who need to step up for Postecoglou’s side

Liel Abada

When Liel Abada arrived at Celtic, it had looked like the club had pulled off a transfer masterstroke. He started his Parkhead career in sensational form and was the club’s standout player over the first several weeks of the season.

It is safe to say that his form has faded away quite a bit since then as his performances have not been nearly as good in the past few months. That is not unnatural though. At the end of the day, he is just 20 years of age, who is playing his first season of football in Scotland. All things considered, he is a great prospect.

Ange Postecoglou will surely be hoping that he can find his form as soon as possible though because in the absence of Jota and Kyogo, Abada might be the one who has to carry the goalscoring burden up top.

He has shown already though that he knows his way to the back of the net. According to stats from Transfermarkt, Abada has scored 7 goals and provided 8 assists in 28 appearances for Celtic this season.

Nir Bitton

For quite some time this season, it had not looked like Nir Bitton was a big part of Postecoglou’s first-team plans.

That appeared to change recently though following Tom Rogic’s injury. With the Australian out of action, Postecoglou decided to move Callum McGregor a bit further up the pitch and bring in Bitton to play as the defensive midfielder. And it is safe to say that the long-time Celtic star took the opportunity with both hands.

Bitton was solid during that run of games that he got in Rogic’s absence and proved that he has a role to play in the Celtic first-team.

Now, Rogic might be back available, but Bitton could still have a big role to play in the Celtic starting XI. With very few options up top, Postecoglou could have to soar up the numbers in the middle of the park while playing with only Johnston and Abada up front.