Rogic will play a part in Deila’s plans for Europe
RONNY DEILA last night insisted Tom Rogic is in his Champions League plans after the Australian ended two years of injury heartache with his first goal for Celtic at Firhill yesterday. The midfielder has struggled to make an impact since his £400,000 move from Central Coast Mariners in January 2013 but his first-half volley was a timely reminder of the reason the Parkhead outfit bought him in the first place. Kris Commons added a second as Celtic maintained their perfect start to the Premiership campaign. Yet, it was the display of Rogic that
captured the imagination of the travelling support. Asked if the 22-year-old could now feature in the play-off game with Malmo next week, Deila replied: ‘Yes. He has already been on the bench in the Champions League and he is an option for the team if he shows what he did today. ‘He was very good in the first 40 minutes. You can see what kind of talent he is. His touch on the ball, his awareness, his scanning, his understanding; there are a lot of things he can give to the team. I think we will see much more of him.’ Deila confessed that Rogic’s prolonged absence from the side which culminated in a loan move to Melbourne Victory last year meant he is only now finding out what kind of player he has at his disposal. But the Norwegian vowed to provide a platform for Rogic to show what he can do as his contract runs down towards the end of this season. ‘I told him that I hadn’t seen him so much,’ the Celtic manager added. ‘When I came here I didn’t hear anything about him, so I didn’t know who he was. ‘He was injured the whole time, one year out with injury almost. When we got him started again, I saw he had something special, his touch, his understanding, that he is a good player. ‘I said to him that he would never leave this football club before he gets a real chance. I think now he shows that he deserves a chance. ‘He is also a very good professional. He wants to develop all of the time and he is not satisfied to sit on the bench.’ Rogic played in the absence of Scott Brown, with the skipper suffering from muscle stiffness. Stuart Armstrong started at Firhill but was substituted after 20 minutes with the same complaint. ‘He (Armstrong) was stiff and tight in the groin before the game,’ explained Deila. ‘We should maybe have rested him. I wanted him to play and that was a bad decision.’ Dejected Thistle boss Alan Archibald said: ‘We didn’t make it a battle and the first 30 minutes were really disappointing. ‘We gave Celtic too much respect.’