BRENDAN RODGERS had no hesitation in playing Anthony Ralston against Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain in September.
The 19-year-old defender had a European baptism of fire as the Brazilian led the French giants to a 5-0 victory – the Hoops’ biggest loss on home soil at this level in history.
However, Rodgers kept faith with the right-back and he remained in place for the following outing, a 4-0 Premiership win over Ross County in Glasgow.
But the nearest Ralston will get to the action when Zenit St Petersburg come to town tonight will be a seat in the stand.
The powerhouse stopper, who scored his first goal for the club in a 5-0 League Cup triumph over Kilmarnock in August, has been sidelined for a chunk of the campaign with a knee injury.
Ralston’s progress has been derailed and he has been curtailed to only five first team starts.
But the youngster recently played the full 90 minutes for the development team as part of his rehabilitation.
He said: “There is never a good time for an injury, but it was probably one of the worst.
“I was getting games and and I was feeling good, but these things happen and it’s about how you come back from them.
“Now I want to focus on trying to get back to where I was before the injury and just take it from there for the rest of the season.”
