Montenegro manager Miodrag Radulovic has made a plea to Celtic supporters to be patient with Sead Haksabanovic.
The winger arrived at Celtic this summer from Rubin Kazan but failed to get a proper pre-season under his belt with the 23-year old having recently had a short loan at Swedish club Djurgårdens IF.
Haksabanovic made his first start for Celtic last week in the Champions League in Poland away to Shakhtar Donetsk but after an impressive first spell in the game he was subbed off at the interval.
Celtic players pose for a team group photo before the match REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
It is likely that had Celtic’s league fixture went ahead against Livingston that the Montenegrin international would have been given some vital minutes on the pitch as Ange Postecoglou hinted that squad rotation would have been likely for that game during his pre-match press conference for St Mirren.
Like the rest of his Celtic teammates he failed to make any sort of impression on the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren and has now headed off with his international team where he will take on Bosnia and Finland in the Nations League.
His international boss has backed Haksabanovic to be a success in Glasgow but believes that patience will be key to see the best out of the winger.
“Sead’s move to Celtic is a big thing for him and for our football in general,” said Miodrag Radulovic speaking to the Glasgow Times.
“I believe he will show the quality he has both with Celtic and in the national team in the near future.
“The problem at the moment is that he wasn’t in training when the transfer went through and he was playing no football at all.
“So he will take time to fully match fit, but I can already tell he is gradually getting his fitness back with the games he plays.
“He will certainly have a part to play for us in our two forthcoming games.”
It is great to hear that Haksabanovic will be involved in Montenegro’s upcoming matches as the player is in desperate need of minutes.
The winger will hope that when he returns to club duty he can really get his Celtic career kickstarted.
He’s showed enough in his brief appearances for us to know there’s a cracking player there when fully fit