Martin O'Neill now knows he cannot live without attacker Camilo Duran after what he saw on Wednessday night. Celtic beat St Johnstone 1-0 away from home, with Mika Baur scoring the winning goal, but it was not an easy evening for the Hoops.
O'Neill made five changes to his starting XI in a bid to rest players for Sunday's Old Firm clash with Rangers. For context, Celtic are nearing the end of a brutal schedule that will see them play 10 games in 37 games.
O'Neill has to manage workload to get through such a busy schedule, but five changes is a lot to make to any team, and the result was a predictably clunky performance. Celtic could have scored more on the night, but St Johnstone also had a massive chance in the first half, which Sam Johnstone had to react quickly to save.
With Kasper Hogh returning from injury and Duran having played so much of late, the latter was rested, but it's not a move O'Neill will be repeating very often this season.
"Duran has just been class," said O’Neill after the game. "He looked tired in the game against St Mirren. But I’m not surprised with the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it.
"He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So, I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not!"
Duran is able to play out wide or as a centre-forward, and he has done very well in both positions. The Colombian has scored six and assisted three so far this season, and he looks as though he will add many more.
The question may be whether O'Neill tries to wedge Duran into one of the wide positions on a more regular basis, or whether he brings him back in as a centre-forward. The former is more likely, but there is a real case to be made for the second.
Duran is scoring goals for fun in the central role, while Hogh is having trouble in front of goal, with his four goals all coming in one game so far. The Dane seems to lack confidence in front of goal currently, while Duran has been clinical, and whether it's finding the net or taking on a man, he needs no second invitation.
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