Ex-Celtic striker Kenny Miller claims that Liam Scales could keep the likes of Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki out of the starting eleven.

The pair cost a combined £7.3m when they joined the Hoops in the summer but Miller believes that Scales has made the case to be Cameron Carter-Vickers’ main centre-back partner:

“He’s been outstanding and what he’s done is he’s shown he is more reliable and is better than Lagerbielke when they’ve been paired together. He definitely gives you a balance on that left side as well. And what we’ve not seen is enough of Nawrocki yet because he got injured pretty quickly.”

“So whether he’s going to be good enough or whether he’s going to be able to take that slot alongside Carter-Vickers in the heart of that Celtic defences. Again, there’s a lot of questions surrounding them at the moment. So Liam Scales, he’s took his opportunity, grabbed it and the shirt’s his.”

Miller is being too quick to judge

While Scales has undoubtedly had an excellent start to the season, Miller shouldn’t be making any definitive judgements on the likes of Lagerbielke and Nawrocki just weeks into their careers at Celtic Park.

Lagerbielke has looked edgy at times and he is clearly still adapting to life in Scottish football so we may only see the best of him nearer the end of the season. Nawrocki, meanwhile, looked decent but he had only played 247 minutes for the Scottish champions before picking up a hamstring injury.

It’s good a problem for Celtic to have

The fact that Scales has really stepped up to the plate can only be a positive for manager Brendan Rodgers. He now has a player he can rely upon at the back.

With Lagerbielke, Nawrocki and Yuki Kobayashi also in the squad, Rodgers has plenty of options to choose from.