Celtic legend Tom Boyd has admitted that it will be difficult for Gary Mackay-Steven to keep the likes of Scott Sinclair and James Forrest out of the starting line-up once they return from their injury layoffs.
Mackay-Steven, who underwent ankle surgery at the end of last season, returned to action after coming on as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Champions League last Tuesday before starting his first game of the season in the 4-1 win over Partick Thistle in the Scottish Premiership three days later.
The 26-year-old played 58 minutes at Firhill before coming off for Ryan Christie with Celtic leading 3-0 at that point.
And Boyd, who was happy to see Mackay-Steven back playing, however, believes the winger will find it difficult to hold onto his place in the starting line-up after Sinclair and Forrest become fully fit.
“The good thing is he has played a couple of games, and it’s obviously due to the injury to Scott Sinclair”, he told Celtic TV, when asked about Mackay-Steven.
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“It is great because now he can go out and show his class, there have been a few players who have done that [this season].
“But it will be a tough ask for him to keep out the likes of Scott Sinclair and even James Forrest.
“But we do like to see him getting a few games, it shows that the team doesn’t lessen any due to the players coming in off the bench.
“We’re still keeping that high standard that we have set for most of the season and we want to continue that right through until we win the league.”
Sinclair has been in fine form since joining Celtic from Aston Villa in the summer, with the 27-year-old thus far scoring 10 times and providing three assists in 22 games for the Hoops.
On the other hand, Forrest has so far made 26 appearances in all competitions for Celtic in the present campaign, netting six times and setting up seven goals.
