Celtic's Camilo Duran performed like he had something 'playing on his mind' in the crushing 3-0 loss to Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter final on Sunday. Pundit Michael Stewart reckons the Colombian was not pleased about being moved back out to a wide position by Martin O'Neill.
Duran's form and positional shift
The 24-year-old has made an instant impression at Parkhead since his £6million switch from Qarabag, registering six goals and three assists in his first 10 matches for the Hoops in all competitions. Following the £12million capture of Kasper Hogh, Duran has primarily operated from a wide attacking position for Celtic.
But with Denmark international Hogh missing the recent victories over Falkirk, Aberdeen and St Mirren through injury, Duran was handed a role through the middle and bagged three goals and two assists in that time frame. The lively forward returned to the right wing at the weekend as the Hoops were humbled at Ibrox.
Stewart's assessment
Speaking on the Premier Sports Scottish Football Social Club, Stewart said: "Kasper Hogh has now had a number of games where he has looked off it, and in big games (too)."
"Then you've got Duran. Initially when he was playing off that right hand side, he looked lively, energised and really good. But to me on Sunday, it looked like the fact he was not playing through the middle was playing on his mind a little bit."
"From Celtic's perspective, that dynamic is now not as certain as it looked a few weeks ago. They are trying to find out how you get all of that together. (Haissem) Hassan looks like a guy you are going to start but now it's a case of 'what side are you playing Hassan on? Where is Duran going to play and is Kasper Hogh going to be the guy to lead the line?"
Midfield concerns
Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton described Celtic as looking like flat-track bullies on Sunday and Stewart reckons a large part of that problem stems from their issues in the middle third of the pitch.
"The physicality in (Celtic's midfield) is a big one", he continued. "It was the second big game after LASK that Celtic have been overrun."
"I mentioned it after the LASK game but if Arne Engels had been playing in that, I don't think Celtic would have crumbled like that. His physicality and athleticism helped Callum McGregor and without him, it causes the concern where teams are able to bully Celtic. That was, to a large extent, what was happening there (at Ibrox) yesterday."
