Colby Donovan's 'Andrea Pirlo-like' passing ability may not be enough to save his starting spot amid a returning teammate. Donovan put in another solid display for Celtic on Sunday as they returned to winning ways against Motherwell.
Celtic beat Motherwell 2-0 thanks to goals from Camilo Duran and Benjamin Nygren, and it was a solid performance all-round. The Hoops were good value for the win and could quite easily have won by five or six on another day.
Donovan impressed again during the win, with the youngster having deputised for Alistair Johnston at a high level over the last six weeks, or so. Against Motherwell, Donovan showed his unbelievable long passing ability again, picking out some superb passes.
That led Chris Sutton to say on Sky Sports commentary: “Absolutely bang on. That was a pass. Gets his head up, and that’s inch-perfect. But Kasper Høgh just doesn’t have the confidence.
“That was a good pass out by Donovan; he was like Pirlo, wasn’t he?! Well, he has been for the last five minutes.”
It's not the first time we have seen that passing ability from Donovan. And it is truly impressive how accurate he can be with such long passes, and it's not something you often see from a full-back.
But as Johnston prepares to return from his long layoff with a hamstring issue, Donovan's time as a starter is likely about to expire. Donovan couldn't have made much of a stronger case than he has for a starting spot, make no mistake about that.
He has quality and he is full of desire, but Johnston is a next level right-back who can offer Celtic some of the upper-end quality they are lacking in this squad. Against the better teams, Johnston can offer some of the true quality and leadership this team has been missing.
When the Canadian international will return remains to be seen, but he is back in training and it's likely his return will come in the next week or two.
When he does, Johnston simply has to be a starter, and Donovan will likely have to find his football as a supplementary player, offering relief from the bench, which will be important given Johnston is returning from a hamstring issue.
You also wonder whether Martin O'Neill will also give Donovan some football on the right-wing, given his ability to get forward and the quality of his deliveries.
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