John Hartson has fired a warning to Celtic's fringe men over regular game-time after failing to grab their opportunity against St Mirren.
Ange Postecoglou shuffled his pack for the Premiership clash in Paisley, making six changes from the midweek Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. The likes of Jota, Reo Hatate and Matt O'Riley all started on the bench while ever-present Cameron Carter-Vickers was ruled out injured - with the stopper pulling out the USA squad.
The changes didn't pay off as the Buddies shocked the Scottish champions with a 2-0 win and with that brought an end to their 100 per cent start to the league campaign. It also stopped Celtic's long-standing unbeaten run that fell one day shy of one full year. Speaking on Go Radio, Hartson said: “When you think Celtic started with Maeda, Kyogo and Abada, that was Celtic’s first choice front three last season before Giakoumakis started to come in and do very well.
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“So you could say that there were too many changes. Maybe one or two of the lads who did come in, they have to realise that when they get their chance, they’ve got to put something in Ange Postecoglou’s mind that, ‘Can I now leave this lad out the next game?‘
“You’ve got to make an impact, you’ve got to do enough just to give the manager something to think about. And at the weekend, Ange is not thinking that way.
“He’s thinking these fringe players, the likes of Mooy, the likes of Ralston, the likes of Welsh, they may be thinking ‘I want to be playing more‘ but that was your opportunity.
“That was a good opportunity to come in and to continue where you left off in terms of Celtic winning.
“That’s what you need to do when you come in and get your opportunity.”
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