Three young Celt’s to keep an eye on against Manchester United

Celtic’s u-19 side are in the spotlight today when they take on Manchester United in Coleraine to kick off the annual Milk Cup.

The competition is the biggest youth football event in the north east of Ireland, starting off in 1983 with a certain Neil Lennon of Motherwell one of the early participants.

Ahead of the youth tournament Celtic will take on Manchester United in a match that will be televised live by BBC Northern Ireland and available elsewhere through Sky and Virgin.

Celtic’s u-19 squad is also effectively the reserve squad for the season ahead- and hopefully the UEFA Youth League which mirrors the Champions League groups.

With a couple of additions here and there the Celtic squad has come through the Academy ranks with most of tonight’s side playing in the 4-0 Glasgow Cup Final win over Sevco at Ibrox in 2016.

Last season was a tough one in the Development League when they were giving away two years or more in every fixture with half of the schedule squeezed into the final three months.

There were some sore results during that period but also lessons and experiences gained.

So far this season the squad, managed by Tommy McIntyre and Shaun Maloney, have played against the first team’s of East Kilbride, Partick Thistle, Cliftonville and Kelty Hearts.

Mikey Johnston has already taken the step up, on show today at Coleraine there is certain to be more future first team players.

STEPHEN WELSH

Should he be wrapped in cotton wool or given a good competitive 90 minutes to prepare for an emergency call against Rosenborg on Wednesday?

With Jozo Simunovic and Marvin Compper on the casualty list the 18-year-old from Coatbridge is the next central defender standing and impressed in the pre-season trip to Austria.

He reads the game well and is firm in the tackle, sticking to the basics in defence rather than Beckenbaur passes or bursting forward. He can play at right-back but is most at home in the middle of the defence.

KERR MCINROY

Like Welsh he appears to be old beyond his years with the physique to play box-to-box for 90 minutes. Any distance between 20 and 30 yards is fair game for a pop at goal.

He broke into the Development League side in the 16/17 season and became a regular last term.

If the John McGinn deal doesn’t go through it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kerr get half a dozen first team games in the season ahead.

EWAN HENDERSON

Starting to make his mark, will soon be introduced without mention of his elder brother out in Italy.

While he was overlooked by Scotland at international level last season a far better judge gave him his first team debut in the end of season 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock.

With his pace and passing he can play in any of the midfield roles, against Sparta Prague in Austria he put in a stint as a striker.