OPINION
There are quite a few players at Celtic right now who the fans have forgotten about, be that due to injury or quite simply a falling out of favour under manager Brendan Rodgers.
The likes of Dorus de Vries, Marvin Compper, Eboue Kouassi and Nir Bitton are among those at Parkhead who have gone under the radar for quite some time and the truth is that they all appear likely to remain outside of the first team for a little while longer.
Of those, Bitton’s absence has been the harshest, with the 6’5″ colossus (source: Transfermarkt) ruled out of action for nearly a year with one of the most severe knee injuries possible.
With 171 appearances for the Hoops, it might have been thought that his absence would be a heavy loss for Rodgers but the truth is he has hardly been missed by the squad, having been struggling to get into the first team in the weeks before his serious setback anyway.
Now the 27-year-old has revealed his hopes of a comeback to the Celtic View, relayed by the Daily Record, but the truth is that with Rangers battling fiercely for the Premiership title, Rodgers cannot afford any gambles in his squad.
Bitton is simply not up to the quality of a title winning side any more – that was clear when he was injured last season – and handing him any meaningful game time is going to put Celtic’s chances of success at risk.
Unfortunately for the Israeli, time has moved on and the team and their ambitions have progressed beyond his capabilities.
He was and still is a loyal servant to the club but his playing time at Parkhead has to come to an end – otherwise Celtic can forget about keeping Rangers from snapping up the title.