Kouassi makes his Celtic bow for U20s

Eboue Kouassi, the Ivorian player who joined Celtic in a £2.8m transfer during the January transfer window, made an appearance for the Parkhead club’s under20 side yesterday.

Kouassi was laid low by malaria after completing his transfer from Russian club Krasnodar last month and hasn’t featured for Brendan Rodgers’ side since arriving in Glasgow.

However, the 19-yearold midfielder played for an hour in an SFA Youth Cup quarter-final match against Hibernian at the Oriam sports performance centre just outside Edinburgh.

He played as a deeplying midfielder in the 4-2-3-1 formation which coach Tommy McIntyre favoured and impressed during his time on the park.

A 32nd-minute strike from Josh Kerr ensured the Glasgow club progressed to the last four of the competition against rivals who were watched by their manager Neil Lennon.

Kouassi looked rangy and athletic, displayed good vision and constantly made himself available for passes from his team mates.

Rodgers has admitted he has been encouraged by how his new signing, who spent some time in hospital after moving to Scotland, has performed in training at Lennoxtown.

The run-out against Hibs will have increased Kouassi’s hopes of being involved with the Scottish champions in the near future.