Celtic: Why Auston Trusty Was Dropped Against Rangers

Celtic fans won't be happy with what they saw from the Hoops at Parkhead this weekend, as Brendan Rodgers' team have now lost back-to-back Glasgow derbies against one of the worst-performing Rangers teams in recent memory while they have the experienced Barry Ferguson in charge as the interim manager.

On paper, Celtic should have won this game. They were the fresher of the two teams, having gotten the week off while Rangers had played 120-plus minutes of football against Fenerbahce in midweek.

That did not reflect in the game though as Celtic went into the break two goals down. They did well to make it 2-2 in the second half with the goals coming from Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, but then, all their good work was undone as Rangers scored a late winner.

One player who did not feature for Celtic on the day was Auston Trusty. The centre-back was widely expected to start with Liam Scales out injured but the American was not even in the squad.

Speaking to Celtic TV before the game, Rodgers said: "Auston picked up a slight calf knock so he trained yesterday and likewise he was too sore for him to be available."

As a result of both Trusty and Scales being unavailable, Rodgers had to rely on Maik Nawrocki to come in from the cold and start against Rangers in a game of this magnitude.

Continuity is always important when it comes to the defensive setup of a team and unfortunately, with Nawrocki starting, the Hoops conceded three goals against Rangers.

One can only hope that this serves as a wake up call for the club and they do not allow the gap to be closed down between the two Glasgow teams.