5 next generation Celtic stars as Brendan Rodgers is urged to raid the youths over Scottish Cup Final sweats
It’s all about the Treble for Celtic now as they gear up for the Scottish Cup Final on May 24 with only a couple of stops on the victory lap remaining in the league.
Hoops fans are desperate to complete the clean sweep and the call is now for Brendan Rodgers to dig out the cotton wool to keep his squad safe for the big one.
The Celtic boss is already resigned to being without Jota for the end-of-season showpiece against Aberdeen, with the wide man ruled out until 2026.
And he’s got some other concerns too, with Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers needing the kid gloves treatment in the coming weeks.
There are also worries about Nicholas Kuhn after the German missed the Rangers stalemate at Ibrox last weekend and punters don’t even want to consider the possibility of not having the likes of player of the year Daizen Maeda or skipper Callum McGregor at Hampden.
A fair few supporters now believe this is the right time to have a look at some of the young prospects at the club.
Not that many will know who they are.
It’s been a stunning campaign for Celtic but the one thing missing has been the emergence of talent from the Lennoxtown academy.
The Hoops have had a hard core of home grown stars over the years, McGregor, James Forrest and Tony Ralston have been mainstays, comeback kid Kieran Tierney before and then going back to aces such as Shaun Maloney, Aiden McGeady, Stephen McManus, John Kennedy, Ross Wallace and so on.
But the production line has dried up in recent years. Top youngsters are leaving the club even before they get barely a sniff of the first team – with Daniel Cummings the latest to follow the Ben Doak road out of Parkhead.
It’s a trend that is causing concern for supporters who have adopted