In recent weeks, Neil Lennon has been boosted by the return of Israeli international right back Hatem Elhamed.
Elhamed has been out since the away victory against Lazio in November, so it has been a long time coming.
It looked as though Hatem would be coming back into the fold earlier this year, but again picked up another knock whilst out in Dubai.
At the minute Neil Lennon seems to be favouring the three at the back formation, and I feel Elhamed would be the perfect player to slot in as the right sided centre back, alongside Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer.
Since he has joined the club, he has mostly played at right back but he has had his moments at centre back, in big games such as the victory at Ibrox earlier in the season and in his last game before injury, against Lazio.
No one expected the rise of Jeremie Frimpong to come so fast and we now seem to have two quality additions in that positions, but this formation would also give us a way of getting both in, without hindering either. You would have to see Nir Bitton and James Forrest drop out the team for this to happen though.
Since the loss against FC Copenhagen, Nir Bitton has filled in the right sided centre back position very well, arguably being the man of the match in the cup game away to St Johnstone. He brings a lot of composure to the back line and looks to certainly has cemented his place in Neil Lennon’s squad as a reliable option.
However, Elhamed has been seen to bring similar qualities to his fellow international team mate. It’s a good headache for Lennon to have at this moment in time, giving him more options than he has had in recent weeks.
St Mirren at home this weekend, looks like the perfect game, to give Elhamed a go in this position while also providing him with some much needed match fitness. It would be interesting to see how a back three of Elhamed, Jullien and Ajer attempt to deal with the physicality that St Mirren will likely bring. My preference going forward for this position would be Hatem Elhamed, as long as he doesn’t pick up anymore knocks.
