Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said that Eboue Kouassi will be back from injury after the international break.
The 6ft midfielder [Source: Transfermarkt] hasn’t featured since disappointing in the team’s defeat to Hearts in August, and has recently been struggling with injuries.
Rodgers has issued an update on the player: “Eboue is a specific player. People say he hasn’t played, but maybe him coming in has given Broony [Scott Brown] the competition as he sees how good Eboue is on a daily basis,” he told the Scottish Sun.
“It’s not all Eboue’s fault. He’s been great in training and obviously has had injuries. He’s just started training again now and will be available after the international break,” he finished.
OPINION
Clearly Kouassi remains in the manager’s plans, and it’s not simply a case of him being dropped after the Hearts fiasco. The 20-year-old has had injury issues of late that have prevented him from playing but he’s obviously still someone Rodgers is thinking about. It’s the excellent performances of Brown that have kept him out of the Hoops line up, not anything he’s done wrong. Brown has been tremendous again this season so it makes sense for him to continually get the nod over Kouassi. Celtic don’t need to play two defensive midfielders in domestic games either, so at the moment the Ivorian is simply not going to get much football. His return from injury after the international break is good news for the club, though, as Brown has been going through his own injury troubles this term. Once Kouassi is back Rodgers will have a ready made replacement for Brown if his injuries flare up again as the season progresses.