Celtic beat Arbroath 5-2 this afternoon to reach the final of the u-19 League Cup where they will play Cowdenbeath or Ayr United.
With seven players on duty with Scotland’s u-17 side at the European Championships Tommy McIntyre had to dip into the u-16 squad for reinforcements for the match at Gayfield.
After being held to a 2-2 draw at half-time, with goals from Aaron Comrie and Luke Donnelly the young hoops turned on the style after the break to run out convincing winners thanks to goals from Donnelly, Innes Murray and Ciaran Lafferty..
Celtic finished runners-up to Ayr United in the west section of the League Cup and could be meeting the Ayrshire side again in the final with the other semi-final taking place tomorrow.
With all youth football now coming under the control of the SPFL Celtic have elected to play their u-17 side in the u-19 competition and won the league before Christmas time ahead of Clyde.
Playing against clubs like Queen of the South, Dundee and Cowdenbeath has given the clubs youngest players valuable competitive experience with McIntyre pleased by the level of opposition has side have faced.
“We don’t want it to always be easy for them, we have to constantly challenge them and for them to find solutions on the pitch,” the hoops coach explained. “They need to handle the physicality of the game, particularly when it’s u-16 against u-19 players.
“Physically they might struggle a little but technically we know that it’s a good challenge for them.
“We’re often playing against club’s with four or five players with first team experience, in some instances more than that.
“We welcome the fact that our players are getting tested against older players with first team experience and this season has been excellent for us. It’s been a real test, some of the games have been really difficult, that’s nothing that we didn’t expect.
“Time will tell if it’s a good thing but so far everything suggests that it has been beneficial for the club.”
CELTIC: Colin McCabe; Aaron Comrie, Josh Kerr, Jamie McCart, Kieran Tierney; Connor McLaren (Innes Murray 55), Mark Hill, Ryan Caird, Regan Hendry (Rory Currie 83); Luke Donnelly, Ciaran Lafferty (Sean McIntosh 80)
CLICK HERE for full Tommy McIntyre interview