Liel Abada leads Celtic assumption busters as sceptics told they have got one thing wrong about the champions

Brendan Rodgers says Liel Abada is in a very good place.

Now former Celtic star Mark Wilson reckons that means an immediate starting place. Abada building his way back to peak fitness from a lengthy injury lay-off is a major boost for the champions. The Israeli international’s goals and creativity were badly missed by the team in his spell of almost four months out with a quad issue.

Rodgers spoke with the player on a personal basis during that period to help him through a “challenging time” as war in his homeland affected friends and family. In terms of Abada's playing return, the boss took his time with the comeback schedule. The long-awaited comeback came at a key time as he appeared as a sub in the crucial win over Rangers in the penultimate match before the mid-winter break.

The 22-year-old was also given minutes in the final pre-shutdown encounter against St Mirren and will now step it up ahead of the team’s return for the Scottish Cup clash against Buckie Thistle at Parkhead on Sunday week.

Abada was a first pick for Rodgers at the beginning of the season and off the mark for the term with a vital opener in a 3-1 triumph over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Now he’s back into the swing of things, the winger will be pushing to face the Highland League outfit from the start and, if he’s up to full pelt, that would be a straightforward decision for Wilson.

Rodgers has used individuals such as Hyunjun-Yang, Mikey Johnston and James Forrest during the absence of Abada. However, none have managed to make the type of impact which saw the former Maccabi Petah Tikva kid make a scoring first appearance two-and-a-half years ago for Ange Postecoglou against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League and add 28 more during a trophy-laden