Matt O'Riley has shown in 11 months at Celtic that he’s just about got the lot.
But, with influential captain Callum McGregor now back in the fold, the midfielder also looks poised to end an unlikely drought and add yet another priceless string to his team’s bow. O’Riley’s creative influence has been evident since the moment he walked in the door in January and displayed on his debut when making a winning goal for Giorgos Giakoumakis against Hearts at Tynecastle.
The Denmark Under-21 star has a vision and a passing ability which can open up opposition. O’Riley already has an assist of the season contender on the board this term with his jaw-dropping through ball to set Jota away to score the second in the 4-0 destruction of Rangers in September high on the list. His dead-ball delivery is lethal and he can spot things quickly. That was clear during the second-half of last season when Celtic raced past their rivals to win the title and was again clear through his opening 11 outings of this term. However, when McGregor crunched into the 50-50 tackle in Leipzig which damaged his knee and left him agonisingly stuck on the sidelines for over two months, O’Riley spent his next 11 appearances showing his versatility and his adaptability to do the other side in filling the gaping void.
