NEW Bhoy Auston Trusty is standing by for his first Celtic start when the Hoops take on Falkirk in the Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final at Parkhead on Sunday afternoon.
The towering central defender, a £6million deadline-day recruit from Sheffield United, is poised to take over from his USA international team-mate Cameron Carter-Vickers against the Championship outfit.
Trusty sampled his first experience of Celtic Park as an 84th-minute substitute for the Hoops rock in the 5-1 Champions League rout of Slovan Bratislava in midweek.
Clearly, he was delighted to figure in the emphatic Euro triumph and took to social media to post: “Celtic debut Champions League debut. Dream come true. A night of many firsts that I will never forget. Just a boy from Media, PA #TrustyTheProcess.”
Carter-Vickers missed training at Lennoxtown today and could be rested for the visit of John McGlynn’s side.
Alistair Johnston, too, was an absentee and the Canadian international right-back could also get the day off with Scotland’s Anthony Ralston more than ready to take over te No.2 slot.
Brendan Rodgers admitted: “We’ve got a few players with niggles, so we will have a look at that and assess that by end of play tomorrow.
“We won’t take any risks with one or two.
“It was the second day of recovery, as well, so there was a group of the players out recovering and a group training hard and then one or two inside just making extra recovery inside rather than out.”
Another of the stand-by squad who could get the nod to appear at some stage is left-back Alex Valle, who is waiting to take his bow after joining on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
A BIG HAND…Callum McGregor could get a break against Falkirk.
Callum McGregor could be spared the entire 90 minutes which could open up a place for Paulo Bernardo to play alongside £11million man Arne Engels and Japanese ace Reo Hatate.
Daizen Maeda, who put in an exhausting shift and scored the Hoops’ fourth goal against the shell-shocked Slovaks, was also singled out for a special mention by Rodgers.
The Hoops gaffer, speaking to The Scotsman, discussed the winger’s selfless running and pressing and continued: “I would doubt there is anyone better in world football than Daizen in that context.
“I watched an image towards the end of the game and if you see a certain angle of the clip he is making a recovery run into the left-back position tracking their right-back and thinking the ball is going to come across.
IT’S BEHIND YOU…Daizen Maeda in action against Slovan Bratislava.
“But then the ball instead goes to the centre-half and Daizen presses it and nicks it and is away. Even if you can do that, it is the will and desire to actually do that.”
Rodgers added: “Most players won’t have that. He could have easily dropped that press and not do that one.
“That was the one that was important and he went, realised it wasn’t getting there and actually got to the centre half before the guy who should have got there.
“It was incredible, unbelievable pressing, but that’s mentality.”
