Unlikely source comes to defence of Celtic star as pundit hits back at 'empty jersey' claims made
Pundit feels Hoops midfielder gets unfair treatment from sections of the Celtic support
Celtic midfielder Benjamin Nygren deserves a bit more respect on his name and isn’t the ‘empty jersey’ that some portray him as, according to pundit Michael Stewart.
The Swedish midfielder has an impressive attacking output rate, with 30 goal contributions in his 47 appearances thus far. However, in the games where he doesn’t trouble the scoresheet, occasionally his lack of involvement has been criticised. An example of this would be in Celtic’s 2-1 victory over Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday.
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill has a fairly settled midfield three of captain Callum McGregor, Mika Baur and Nygren. Their run in the starting XI has made it harder for the likes of fellow maestros Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Oliver Sorenson to get minutes.
Nygren defended by unlikely source
Having captained Edinburgh rivals Hearts, Stewart isn’t one for always sticking up for Celtic players. However, speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, when asked whether he should be dropped for the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain or Sorenson, he responded: “Clearly that's their main front midfield three of Baur, McGregor and Nygren.
“Maybe there’ll be times where McGregor needs a rest. But for me, with Nygren, you would always have him on the team because he’s capable of scoring such big goals. I don't think he's as much of an empty jersey as some feel. So I've got to, I think I would disagree slightly with that (that Oxlade-Chamberlain would be a better option).”
Stewart on recurring Johnston injury
Defender Alistair Johnston came on as a substitute at Easter Road for his first appearance in two months following a hamstring injury. However, the Canadian was brought back off 20 minutes later as he felt it again. O’Neill has subsequently confirmed he isn’t likely to feature again until after the international break. It isn’t the first time Johnston has suffered an injury setback shortly after returning and Stewart reckons this is a worry.
He continued: “For me, the concern is that that last season he had the same issue, so you would like to think that they've had enough time to be able to get rid of the scar tissue and rehab it to the position where it's alright. But the concern is, it was that one back then that felt like it was the most serious, because he was out for a long time. Now, this is potentially the fourth time in the space of, what, a year (he’s been injured)? I'm no doctor, but surely they’ve got to take an extra look.”
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