Brendan Rodgers insists Viljami Sinisalo has more than earned his Celtic debut as the Finland goalkeeper prepares to step in for injured Kasper Schmeichel against Raith.
Schmeichel misses out with a back issue – but is expected to be fit to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday. It means Sinisalo – a £1million summer signing from Aston Villa – will get a first competitive run out against Barry Robson’s Championship side in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie.
And Rodgers said: “Kasper Schmeichel won’t play. So Ville will start. Kasper, a little issue with his back. So he’ll miss out on the game. Just a short term thing. Yes, it’ll be okay for Wednesday. I’ve seen in pre-season with Ville, a young goalkeeper come in and played in those games really well. So I’m really looking forward to seeing him make his debut.”
Sinisalo, capped three times by Finland including in last year’s 2-2 friendly draw against Scotland at Hampden, spent time out on loan at Exeter, Burton and Ayr United during his time at Villa. Rodgers said: “Ville’s a great boy. And that’s always a challenge. He’s known that having been at and then investing his time playing down in England with Exeter.
“He knew then coming here, he’s got a real top class goalkeeper to learn from. So sometimes you have to invest your time into learning. But we took him in. We’d seen him play. He’s obviously represented Finland as well. Very, very talented young goalkeeper.
“He has come in, been patient, understands the role at this point. So it’s really nice for him to get that opportunity. I’ve seen him in pre-season. I’ve seen him throughout the season since. And yes, I’ve got no doubts.”
Meanwhile Rodgers is happy to see Robson back in the dug out with Raith – because he reckons he wasn’t backed at Aberdeen. The duo will go head-to-head in the Scottish Cup on Saturday evening just over a year since Robson was axed by the Dons having taken them into the Europa Conference League group stages. The former Celtic midfielder was appointed by Raith in December.
And Rodgers said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Barry. I was really, really disappointed for him at Aberdeen because I think when he stepped up, he’d done a really good job. The challenge of Europe for any club is really difficult. And he’d done so well in his time there that he qualified Aberdeen into Europe. And the shallowness of the squad meant it was really difficult for him.
“If I was honest at the time, you really want to see the manager backed and allowed to go through that tough phase of it all. Because it’s tough because he’s done so well.
“And then maybe he’d never quite had the squad there to support that. And that isn’t the manager’s problem. So it’d be nice for him to be able to ride through that, learn from it and then go again. Good to see him back in. His teams will always be like him. He was a competitive player, tough player. And they’ll come to defend very, very well. So we just have to make sure we play our game.”