Celtic’s u-20 side face Dunfermline tonight with the door to the first team more obvious than ever, kick-off 7pm East End Park.
Tom Rogic, Anthony Stokes and Rami Gershon stepped up to the first team from the side that played Hamilton last Monday with Marcus Fraser and Joe Chalmers also in action at Inverness.
Developing first team players, capable of playing in the Champions League is the remit of Celtic’s Academy structure as coach Stevie Frail explained.
“Everyone got a big boost seeing the team at Inverness, especially with Marcus getting his first start,” Frail said. “He was terrific and that gives everyone a lift.
“They know that if they are doing well enough they might be the next one that the manager gives a chance to but you need to earn that chance. That’s what we try to stress to them, being in a squad doesn’t guarantee anything, you have to earn places.”
Most coaches look for consistency of selection but at u-20 level players are drawn from various directions, from the first team squad down to the u-17 side.
That makes consistency almost impossible with Frail happy to acknowledge the remit of the side.
“This level isn’t about developing a team, it’s about developing individuals to ultimately play in the first team,” he added. “It’s about adapting to conditions and producing individuals.
“Whoever is in the squad we stress to them that they need to be a team, the core is quite settled than we have to bring in some others to adapt to the side.
“In every match we look to get off to a good start and dictate the tempo of the game.
“We don’t look too closely at the opposition, we have to play our own game, adapt to the conditions and make sure that we perform to our potential.”
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