Paul George will continue his comeback from injury tonight when Celtic’s u-20 side face Dundee at Dens Park, kick-off 7pm.
The Irish u-19 internationalist made his first appearance in six months against Falkirk last week scoring the only goal of the game after coming on as a 70th minute substitute.
George suffered a badly broken leg playing against Rangers in April but after a lengthy rehabilitation John Kennedy is determined to carefully manage the final stages of his recovery.
“Everyone was pleased to see Paul back playing,” Kennedy said. “He’s a great talent and it was very disappointing when he got the injury.
“He still has a bit to go, it’s early days in his recovery and we have to be aware of that and not push him too much.
“We’ll guide him in the right direction, he’s pushing himself every day, he’s getting fitter and stronger. If we need to put the reigns on him we’ll do that but when the time is right we’ll get him thrown into action.”
Tonight’s match kicks-off a vital series of matches for the youth side with Next Gen Series trips to Sporting Lisbon and PSV Eindhoven either side of an SFA Cup tie away to Hibs.
Dundee have taken just one point from ten under-20 fixtures but Kennedy will ensure that his squad apply themselves properly tonight.
“If you take anything for granted in football it rebounds on you,” the hoops coach explained. “We need the same attitude and commitment as we always look for.
“We played a good Falkirk side that made it difficult for us in our last match but we were quite pleased with the display and result.
“Dens Park is a good stadium and surface to play on. We have to keep the tempo high and get the ball forward when we can and take control of the game.”
John Herron, Marcus Fraser and Stuart Findlay will be on Scotland u-21 duty this week while Jackson Irvine has an u-20 Asian Cup semi-final against Iraq for Australia to look forward to on Wednesday.
CLICK HERE for best Barcelona videos
Follow Video Celts on Twitter and Facebook
