Chris Sutton has backed Brendan Rodgers policy of sticking with two top team strikers.
Injuries to Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths left Celtic short of options against Rosenborg with the bhoys drawing a blank in a crucial Champions League qualifier.
The totally out of favour Nadir Ciftci was next on line ahead of 17-year-old Jack Aitchison with just a couple of substitute appearances to his name.
Keeping a third choice striker motivated and sharp is the dilemma facing the Celtic boss with Sutton backing his stance.
“Who is this third striker he’d be able to bring in anyway?” he asks in the Daily Record.
“You’re not going to get a top-quality front player who is going to come to Scotland and be happy to sit on the bench every week behind Dembele and Griffiths. It’s not going to happen.
“I certainly wouldn’t have come north if there was any suggestion I wouldn’t be playing.
Any striker worth their salt wants to be on the pitch and the ones who would be happy to hang around the sidelines are not worth having.
“Celtic are not in the English Premier League market. It’s fine for clubs who pocket £95m for finishing last to have four strikers all on 50 grand a week, but Brendan doesn’t have that luxury.
“Some people will say, why not bring in a veteran striker, a guy who would accept not playing every week?
“Give me a name then. The game has changed. There are strikers on the bench in England getting £60,000 per week.
“Anyone who thinks that level of striker is going to pitch up at Parkhead on the cheap is living in fantasy land.
“There is the argument he could go and recruit a back up along the lines of a Louis Moult or a Liam Boyce. I take the point but players like that are in their prime and need to be playing.
“They might get a wage rise but would they be willing to come knowing they’d be getting two or three games a season? I doubt it.”
Dembele will be out injured for at least a month but Griffiths is in with a chance of being fit for Wednesday’s match in Norway.
Tomorrow the hoops travel to face Sunderland giving Rodgers the chance to try out different options before facing Rosenborg.
In defence Kristoffer Ajer looks like getting another outing with Celtic light on defensive options due to the injury to Erik Sviatchenko.
