Brendan Rodgers mentioned Anthony Ralston’s importance at Celtic towards the close of last season, as the Scotland international is now in his sixth year in the senior squad.
Despite initially seeming like he would leave the club, the Lennoxtown graduate has now made over a century appearances for the Bhoys, scoring eight goals and assisting 16 times.
In May, Brendan Rodgers predicted that Anthony Ralston, a 25-year-old Celtic player, would play a bigger part in 2024/25 under his leadership.
He said, “He’ll play more for me next season.” One aspect of this season was that Ali (Johnston) was the first choice. Tony came in and played some games. Ali had been gone for a while, so when he returned from injury, I needed to buy him some games to catch up. That indicated Tony hadn’t played very much.
“But there are a few things about Tony. One, I know he is always prepared because if he is not playing games, he is training for them. So he trains every day, and his standards, quality, and mentality are game-like.
With the international break approaching, Rogers’ views on Ralston at Celtic may become increasingly significant.
Anthony Ralston’s chances of Celtic involvement
Celtic’s Alistair Johnston has been left out of Canada’s Nations League roster for forthcoming matches against Panama and Mexico.
After making his selections, Jesse Marsch revealed that Johnston is’rehabbing’ a back issue, which will likely prevent him from playing against Ross County on Sunday.
In that situation, Ralston will likely make his seventh appearance of the season. This would be his first start in the Scottish Premiership, having previously played against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals.
The issue is, might this be a harbinger of things to come as Celtic attempt to rotate their team to deal with a rigorous match schedule that will put them to the test on all fronts?
Celtic’s fixture schedule could favour Anthony Ralston
Rodgers has stated that Celtic are willing to make changes to compensate for the ‘cost’ of their high-octane tactical framework, in addition to providing Johnston a wide berth to sharpen his skills.
His remarks continued: “There’s a big cost to how we play, there’s a cost in energy, and when that starts to drop a little bit, that ability to make changes to sustain that is very important.”
Celtic’s next six matchups across all competitions show the challenge of midweek matches, which will demand adjustments to retain the intensity of the team’s strong start to the season domestically.
Ralston is sure to earn minutes during this time, and Rodgers’ vow regarding his involvement may be set to take on a whole new level of significance once the considerations outlined are taken into account.
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