Rodgers praises Celtic 26-year-old after display v Albion Rovers
By Dominic Toner
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers claims that defender Dedryck Boyata looked “real quality” in the Scottish Cup match against Albion Rovers on Sunday.
The 26-year-old made just his second appearance of the season for the Bhoys as Erik Sviatchenko was ruled out through suspension.
Celtic eased through their fourth-round cup tie against Albion with a comfortable 3-0 away win, with Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong on the scoresheet.
Rodgers highlighted the performance of defender Boyata on his return to the side after the match.
“I thought Dedryck Boyata looked real quality today. He looked like the young player at Manchester City I knew,” Rodgers said, as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account.
Boyata delivered a solid performance in the cup tie and was dominant in the aerial battles.
The centre-back has found himself frozen out by Rodgers for the majority of this campaign and has been unable to force his way into contention for the starting XI.
However, the former Manchester City player will now hope for more opportunities in the first-team after impressing the manager.
In other Celtic news, the club have had a bid rejected for a wonderkid and must pay an extra £3million.
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