Celtic boss Ronny Deila has insisted that he is unperturbed by Honduras manager Jorge Luis Pinto’s claims that Emilio Izaguirre has to play more to be part of the national team.
The left-back, who has been at Celtic since 2010, has lost his place in the team to academy graduate Kieran Tierney.
Izaguirre’s last appearance for the Hoops came in their 8-1 rout of Hamilton Academical in a Scottish Premiership game on 19th January.
As a result, Pinto reportedly stated that the 29-year-old needs to play more regularly if he wants add to his 78 international caps.
And Deila, who admitted that Izaguirre wishes to feature more prominently for Celtic, however, explained that Pinto’s claims will not affect his team selection decisions.
relatedNewsStory
“I talk with Emilio a lot of times”, he told a pre-match press conference, when asked if he talked to Izaguirre about Pinto’s comments.
“Of course he wants to play more, that’s for sure.
“Everybody in the squad wants to play. But again, there’s competition.
“You never know in football, something can happen with KT [Kieran Tierney] and also he can show in training that he’s better [than Tierney].
“I can’t make my decision out of what a national team coach is having an opinion about.”
Izaguirre, who joined Celtic from Motagua in 2010, is contracted with the Scottish champions until 2017.
The defender has been linked with a move away from Celtic Park in the summer, owing to his lack of game time, but Deila suggested that he still has a future at the club.
