Neil Lennon has answered Chris Sutton and the Celtic fans that were pleading with him to take Odsonne Edouard off during Thursday’s 4-1 win over AIK in the Europa League.
The sight of Kris Ajer being substituted had the thoughts of Celtic supporters racing towards Ibrox on Sunday without our most influential defender.
With the tie virtually won at half time with a 4-1 aggregate lead going into the weekend with as healthy a squad as possible was the priority with the Swedes not very sophisticated in the way that they chopped down opponents.
Lewis Morgan for Mikey Johnston was the second substitution despite Edouard appearing to toil and regular warnings from Sutton in the commentary box.
“I keep hearing this about Odsonne but he was rested at the weekend and he only played 70-80 minutes of the first leg against AIK,” Lennon explained to the Daily Record.
“He went down with cramp on Thursday night so what does that tell you? He needs games, he needs the minutes.
“We had a brief discussion about it at half-time and he wanted to play on so he’s fine. It just seems a negative thing that people want to poke us with when we’ve just played brilliantly and won 4-1 but he’ll be fine for Sunday.”
Edouard was substituted by Vakoun Bayo after 76 minutes while Ajer seems to be winning his battle to be fit for Ibrox leaving Hatem Abd Elhamed and Tom Rogic as the only casualties.
Jozo Simunovic is available again giving Lennon options in defence with Fraser Forster expected to replace Craig Gordon in goals.
