Ange Postecoglou says 18-year-old midfielder Ben Summers fully deserves his chance in the Celtic first-team squad after naming the youngster in his matchday list to face Hibernian.
Summers has been a regular for Stephen McManus and Darren O'Dea's B team in the Lowland League this term and trains with the senior side regularly.
Postecoglou reckons that, with Aaron Mooy and Tomoki Iwata unavailable due to injury, Summers was a natural choice to come into the squad and fill an extra midfield berth.
He told BBC Sportsound: "Yeah, look, we've obviously got a couple of injuries in the midfield area with Aaron and Tomoki missing out.
"Ben's been training with us for a little while now. He's been really strong in the B team this year and performing well. He looks the part at our training and we needed another midfielder on the bench today so he gets his chance.
"You're at a big club and it's hard but the reality is you do get an opportunity like he has today - it doesn't take much, a couple of injuries.
"The key for our young players is to perform well when they get the opportunity to gain the trust of team-mates, coaches and get that opportunity. Ben gets his today."
Celtic team: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate, O'Riley, Jota, Maeda, Kyogo. Subs: Bain, Haksabanovic, Abada, Turnbull, Kobayashi, Oh, Bernabei, Summers, Ralston.
Hibs team: Marshall, Miller, Cabraja, Hanlon, Doyle-Hayes, Jeggo, Stevenson, Youan, Fish, Egan-Riley, Campbell. Subs: Johnson, Cadden, Hoppe, Nisbet, Devlin, Henderson, McKirdy, MacIntyre, Kuharevich.
Our Celtic Digest newsletter brings exclusive content directly to you rather than solely through the website. You can already find us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram but we will also send bespoke opinion pieces and special features every day directly to your email inbox every evening. Not only will you receive this article from Sean Martin, Tony Haggerty or Aidan Macdonald (or, sometimes, all three) but you will also get easy access to our best content from the last 24 hours too. It’s a great way to keep up to date with what’s happening at Ange Postecoglou’s Scottish champions. To sign up, simply take five seconds to type in your email here. Simple!
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here