Celtic play their first ever match in the Irn Bru Cup on Tuesday night when they host Annan Athletic at Cappielow.
The unique fixture will be televised live by Premium Sports who have also provided live coverage of all three of this seasons Champions League qualifiers.
For the first time clubs from the top tier of Scottish Football will take part in what used to be known as The Challenge Cup with the condition being that the Premiership clubs have to use their Development Squad- players under 20 plus three overage outfield players.
Celtic have used overage players sparingly in recent seasons but there were a few games last season where you could watch Scott Allan, Anthony Stokes, Callum McGregor and even Derk Boerrigter.
Getting the balance right between developing players and exposing them to real football experiences is one of the toughest jobs in the game.
Liam Henderson was playing in the Development League as a 17-year-old when he forced his way into Neil Lennon’s first team plans before going on loan to Rosenborg and Hibs for regular first team experience.
In the current Development squad Anthony Ralston is the best example of a player benefiting from going out on loan. After half a season with Queens Park he returned to Celtic transformed, making his top team debut at the end of last season with only injury delaying that eventuality.
A win against Annan could set the side off on a seven match run to the final with the standard of opponent going up round by round with clubs from Wales and Northern Ireland entering the last 16 of the competition.
An extended run in the Irn Bru Cup could provide the players with the mix of experiences that they need alongside fixtures in the Development League, Premier League International Cup and UEFA Youth League.
It promises to be an interesting idea, provided Celtic put a run together, CLICK HERE to view the gallery of five young players out to impress in the Irn Bru Cup.
AIDAN’S TRICKERY
Until last season Aidan Nesbitt and Kieran Tierney’s careers were running in parallel, living the dream of progressing through the ranks at the club they love.
While Tierney’s development accelerated, last season Nesbitt’s stalled although he did have the consolation of making his first team debut- five minutes against Raith Rovers in the League Cup.
A loan spell to the Firhill sand-pit didn’t do much for his career but with his pace, trickery and eye for goals Nesbitt is certainly one to look out for.
JACK’S JOY
Jack Aitchison couldn’t have scripted the way that 2016 started- now he has to push on and make more headlines in the second half of the year.
Sunday 15 May 2016 was a red letter day in his career, coming off the bench to score with his first touch as a top team player and rewrite the record books as the youngest ever Celtic player and scorer.
While Scotland’s u-17 side play a tournament in Hungary, Aitchison has remained at home for this fixture. Even at the age of 16 he has the physicality to look after himself and find the net- a Development League game against St Mirren’s Jim Goodwin last season did him no harm at all.
MILLER TIME?
After suffering the burden of being named the world’s greatest 15-year-old by a little known website Calvin Miller has started to find his game and goals after initially struggling as a sole striker.
Two goals the other week against Real Sociedad, following a double against Dalbeattie Star suggest that Calvin is on form with his eye for goal upto speed.
There were a few challenging times last season but in a match against Hamilton Accies he coped admirably with his marker, player boss Martin Canning, and netted an equaliser which kept the unbeaten league run going when it was under threat.
GENERATION GAMES
Following your dad into the game is never easy, when your old man is the head of youth development at Celtic it becomes even tougher.
Last season Jamie McCart cut out a tendency to try and do too much on the ball, his partnership with Fiacre Kelleher formed the backbone of last season’s unbeaten title success.
Impressing Brendan Rodgers in pre-season training earned him a call up to join the first team in Slovenia, on Saturday he didn’t put a foot wrong in a 15 minute appearance against Barcelona.
LOAN STAR
Anthony Ralston seemed to skip through a few stages in his development thanks to a couple of months on loan at Queens Park.
The young right-back made a big impression at Hampden and was recalled to provide cover for Mikael Lustig despite interest from a number of Championship clubs looking to provide a higher standard than Queens Park. .
Injury put paid to his hopes of providing back up to Lustig but he still recovered in time to make his first team debut at St Johnstone, alongside McCart he looked perfectly at home in the weekend clash with Barcelona in Dublin.