Opinion: Hoops duo need to shine in return to Celtic Park

Celtic’s pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday the 16th of July is only a big game as it gives Hoops fans the first chance to see their team in action since Celtic’s last home game back in May.

The two months have been a long wait, and the Hoops support will be delighted to be back at Celtic Park.

The outcome of the match itself isn’t really important, it is more about getting players game game time ahead of the start of the season, but it is an important game for two Hoops players that might struggle for game time in season 2022/23, James Forrest and Mikey Johnston.

On the face of it, the wingers will not be first-team regulars next season, as Jota, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda will be ahead of the duo in the Hoops pecking order. However, both players have featured for the Bhoys fairly often in pre-season and you would expect that to continue against Blackburn Rovers.

With only two more pre-season friendlies to play before the Hoops’ first league game of the season against Aberdeen on the 31st of July, Forrest and Johnston will want to put in eye-catching performances to show that they should be in Ange Postecoglou’s plans for the Aberdeen game.

 That is why the Blackburn game is more important for some of the squad than it is for others, as it gives the likes of Forrest and Johnston the chance to show that they should be in the Hoops line-up on a regular basis.

Of the two players, Forrest is perhaps more likely to be involved regularly with the first-team than Johnston as he featured more often last season for the Hoops. But perhaps the arrival of Harry Kewell as a first-team coach at Celtic will have an impact on Johnston and Forrest’s play.

Maybe Kewell has worked a lot with the attacking players in