Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been left raving over the performance of winger Lewis Morgan as he stood out as the surprise star for the club’s defeat to RB Leipzig on Thursday night.
The Hoops slumped to a 2-0 loss away in Germany to leave their Europa League hops hanging by a thread, with Rodgers choosing to make a number of changes to his starting XI as he found his arm twisted by injuries to some of his star men.
The likes of Morgan, who was making his first start of the seaosn, and Ryan Christie were given the chance to star from the off, and it was the former who caught the manager’s eye, leaving the Northern Irishman over the moon with his efforts.
He told the Scottish Sun: “There were a lot of positives from the game. We started very, very well, imposed our style on the game.
“The players that came in tonight did fantastic. They haven’t been playing a great deal. Lewis Morgan came in and gave everything in the game.
“These guys would get great experience from that. It’s unfortunate we have so many injuries but it’s not the fault of the players. They gave absolutely everything.”
Opinion
There would have been a lot of doubt in the minds of the Parkhead faithful when they saw the likes of Morgan, Christie and Cristian Gamboa named among the starting XI and it seems their worries were warranted after a hit-and-miss display from the Hoops. However, while his teammates might have been struggling, Morgan did exactly what was asked of him as he ran and ran and never gave up on the cause, and while he might not be favoured by Rodgers or the supporters, he did his cause no harm with his run out in Germany. Celtic could do with a few more players showing the same sort of passion and commitment as the 22-year-old did in the European clash, and it could be that this display earns the young talent a couple more appearances over the next couple of weeks, with Rodgers having to deal with a number of senior injuries which have left his side looking to be lacking depth in quality.