OPINION
Celtic youngster Jack Hendry must have been wondering what he had to do to earn a start after he was left out of the team that beat Heart of Midlothian 3-0 in their Betfred Cup semi-final clash on Sunday.
With Dedryck Boyata suspended and Jozo Simunovic injured the 23-year-old must have fancied his chances of getting some significant game time at Murrayfield.
Instead, he had to settle 10 for minutes of action at the end with the game already won for the Hoops. Brendan Rodgers left him out as he went for a centre back partnership of Leicester loanee Filip Benkovic and utility man Kristoffer Ajer.
Both those players are younger than Hendry and, while youth isn’t a guarantee of long term success, Hendry should be worried that they are both already ahead of him in the pecking order.
This was a big chance for Hendry and it’s one that has, ultimately, gone missing. He needed to show Rodgers that he could fill in for established starters Simunovic and Boyata but he wasn’t given that opportunity.
In fact, the youngster hasn’t started a game for the club since he featured in the 3-1 Europa League defeat to Red Bull Salzburg earlier this month.
Perhaps that harrowing second half has soured Rodgers on the young centre half. He visibly struggled against the Austrians and has since struggled to break into the first team.
He’s not even made the match day squad in the club’s last two league games, while he’s played a combined 25 minutes in the cup games against RB Leipzig and Hearts since the Salzburg fiasco.
This is all extremely disconcerting for Hendry. He’s a talented player who Rodgers felt was worth bringing in nine months ago, but he’s already looking like damaged goods in Glasgow.
The Hearts game was a big opportunity missed for the 23-year-old and, with things as they are, he must be fearing for his future at Parkhead.