‘He has a lot of football ability, I am really pleased for him’ – Celtic boss Rogers in praise for Irish prospect Lawal

The Dubliner earned rave reviews for his displays on loan to Fleetwood Town last season, despite their relegation from League One, but he faced an uncertain future with a lack of clarity over whether he would be loaned out again by Celtic or added to the first team squad. But Lawal performed well as a second-half sub in a 1-1 draw with Ayr United and caught the eye of his boss.

“I really like Bosun, he’s a player who clearly has a lot of physical attributes,” Rodgers said.

“But what he has as well is a lot of football ability. You go out on loan, you can see he has that experience, that power and quality to break through and we have seen that this evening. I am really pleased for him. Younger players to get that chance to come in and play, as well as developing their fitness, it’s shown they have the personality to come in and play for Celtic. And that’s always important for me with young players, that they have no fear, and can go and show that.”

Lawal was promoted to the senior Ireland squad by John O’Shea last month, an unused sub for the win over Hungary before he joined the U21 panel, and O’Shea is a big admirer of the former St Kevin’s player, who can play in midfield or defence.

2For a year or two now he’s been looked at with high potential. When you look at him sometimes he just looks a class player because he’s so comfortable in possession. He can drive past three or four players, he can stop attackers at ease,” O’Shea said.

“You can see why people think he can be a centre-back and you can see why he’s going to be a driving force in midfield too. It’s a fantastic option for Ireland going forward in terms of what he’s going to be. Most importantly he’s going to be a very good player.

“What Celtic do with him now, let’s wait and see. The key for Bosun if he wants to be a centre midfielder in particular is playing at a higher level, a more technical level and seeing how he can cope with moving the ball quickly having lots of bodies around him. If he does that, I think he can excel as well. He won’ have any issues in terms of having a very good career once he applies himself like he is doing at the minute,” O’Shea added.