James McPake has lavished praise on Daniel Kelly following last night’s SPFL Trust Cup tie at East End Park.
Celtic’s B team lost 2-1 to the First Division leaders but it seems that the side coached by Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea made quite an impact.
The hoops were 2-0 down after 26 minutes, pulled one back from Johnny Kenny in the 36th minute but were unable to take the tie into extra-time.
Kelly has been featuring increasing for the B team in recent matches and has certainly made a big impression on the manager in the opposite dug out last night.
Discussing Celtic, McPake told the Dunfermline website:
They press you, they play just like their first team and they are a good side. I thought we played pretty well in the game, we had good possession and we had good chances.
Then wee Toddy, a great experience for him, playing in that (No 10) role which is really tough. You come up against a CDM or a No 6 that role, the deep lying midfielder, Daniel Kelly is the best about at that age that boy for Celtic, I’ve seen him a few times. He’s so assured.
It took Andrew (Todd) a wee while to get used to that but I’ve asked senior players and players that have been internationalists to do jobs like that and they’ve struggled.That’s nothing for Andrew to worry about because after 15-20 minutes he got the hang of it.
There should be some big decisions to be made about the players in the Celtic B squad when the January transfer window opens.
Clearly Kelly and others have caught the attention of McPake, getting involved in a dozen or more games in League One looks more beneficial to their development than another round of matches in the Lowland League.
Celtic’s next fixtures in the Lowland League are at home to Caledonian Braves and Bo’ness United on November 26 and 30 on the plastic pitch at Livingston.
