Ex-Scotland international Michael Stewart insists he would be surprised if Tom Rogic started for Celtic against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Brendan Rodgers' men host the Russian giants for the first leg of their Round of 32 tie and will be hoping to make sure they have an advantage to take to Russia for the second leg.
Rogic was an unused substitute on Saturday as Celtic edged out Partick Thistle 3-2 in a fifth round Scottish Cup tie.
But despite Rogic being ready to start against Zenit, Stewart does not believe Rodgers will name the Australian in his starting eleven on Thursday night.
He stated his belief that Rogic is a player who needs a run of games to get to his best level.
relatedNewsStory
"I'd be very surprised if he did", Stewart said on BBC Scotland Sportscene Extra, when asked about Rogic potentially starting against Zenit.
"He is the type of player that you expect and feel needs a few games to get up to speed.
"I was surprised to see he was back in at the weekend; it was a welcome sight, but I think he needs a couple of weeks before you would see him starting a game, especially a game of such importance", he added.
Zenit's game against Celtic will mark a return to competitive action for the St. Petersburg giants as they do not resume their domestic campaign until the start of March, with the Russian Premier Liga on winter break.
They sit in second spot in the Russian top flight, eight points behind Lokomotiv Moscow.
