Lennon plans Twardzik return

Neil Lennon is hoping to see Filip Twardzik back in the Celtic first team before the end of the season.

The attacking midfielder made a scoring return from injury 10 days ago in Celtic’s 3-0 win over Hamilton Accies in the u-20 league.

Twardzik was making in-roads into the first team in the early weeks of last season but was out of action for 17 months with a succession of muscle strains.

Within 60 seconds of his return he found the net against Hamilton with Lennon monitoring his progress closely with a view to getting him back involved at the highest level.

“I was delighted to see Filip back,” the hoops boss told Celtic TV. “He’s been out for such a long time.

“We have high hopes for him but he’s had two years out of his career, two years that he won’t get back, but I’m hoping that there is a freshness about him coming in.

“He’s a very talented player but we’ll just take it steady with him, see how he goes over the next few weeks and if things go well he’ll feature before the end of the season. That would be a great bonus.”

Celtic’s u-20 side are back in action on Tuesday against Ross County with Twardzik likely to get a starting place.

Youth coach John Kennedy knows a thing or two about injury rehabilitation and is delighted to see Filip back in the fold.

“He still has a bit to go in terms of fitness and games wise he’ll need a few to get upto speed but based on his first performance he’s not all that rusty,” Kennedy said after the Hamilton match.

“It’s been tough for him, a continuation of different injuries. He has shown a strong mentality to come through that which is all important. In the long run it will maybe serve him well.

“He was in a good place at the time he got injured, he’s probably been in a bad place recently, you don’t want to experience that but sometimes it’s not the worst thing in the world. It makes you realise a lot of things, it lets you develop other aspects of your physique.”