Ange Postecoglou has tempered expectation over Karamoko Dembele 's Celtic return.
The academy prospect is back from a long injury lay-off but the Parkhead boss does not expect him to make an immediate impact in his first team.
Dembele suffered an ankle fracture in pre-season and a brief run-out against St Mirren in midweek was his first senior appearance of the season.
The 19-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but Postecoglou insists the priority, for now, is helping restore his fitness with minutes for the B team.
Asked if he expects Dembele to make an impact in the title run, Postecoglou replied: "It depends. It's his first tentative steps.
"He's still a long way off being able to be a meaningful contributor because he's just missed so much football.
"The idea is we try and get him some more game-time with the B team and build his fitness up.
"He's one I was looking forward to working with, unfortunately the pre-season injury means he's missed the majority of the season.
"But he's been back training with us since he's been healthy and he's looking good.
"We've got competition in those wide areas, and depth, so that's his challenge. Mikey Johnston's back training as well.
"With those kind of players, it's giving them opportunities to develop and seeing how far their progress goes."
With Dembele's current deal up come the end of the current campaign, Postecoglou said talks on his future will likely commence soon.
But he stressed discussions will also depend on where Dembele sees his own future.
The Celtic boss added: "With all those things, it's two ways. That'll depend on Karamoko himself and where he sees his future.
"We'll sit down at the appropriate time for him and map out what's best for him; what he thinks is best for him, and we'll come to a decision."
You can watch Postecoglou's full press conference via the video player above.
