Neil Lennon has insisted Amido Balde has a significant future at Celtic after the 22-year-old scored only his second goal since joining for £1.7m.
Balde's second-half goal gave Celtic a 2-1 win at Partick Thistle and extended their lead in the SPFL Premiership to six points, but not without late injury scares for Emilio Izaguirre and Georgios Samaras. Izaguirre suffered a head injury and was taken off on a stretcher, although he was later able to converse and share a joke with Lennon in the dressing room. The injury's extent will become clear after tests today. Samaras has a nasty cut to the knee.
The Greek had put Celtic ahead and, after Kris Doolan equalised, it was down to Balde to deliver Celtic's win. He has played nine times, but started only once, since signing from Vitoria Guimaraes. "We know what we've got with him," said Lennon. "He knows and we know that he's here for the long haul. We are going to try to polish off the rough edges that he has, but we think he's got great attributes and you could see that again today. He will be a good player for Celtic.
"As the season progresses we will see more of Amido. He's been very patient, he hasn't got frustrated, he's listened and he's tried to learn. He has power, we don't really have that target man as such and we haven't had one for a while in that sort of mould. He's got great pace, on the counter attack he's excellent and he's a decent finisher. You have to remember he is 22. He is still a baby . . . a big baby mind you, but a baby in footballing terms.
"Emilio is feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous. But he's sitting up. He couldn't remember the run and shot that he had, so I reminded him of it and said he should get a bang on the head more often if he's going to do that. You could see he was a bit woozy on his legs. The physio checked him out, he said he felt fine, he looked okay for the next few minutes but when you see a player going down like that it's always a huge concern after a head knock."
Charlie Mulgrew, James Forrest and Derk Boerrigter will all return to training this week. Lennon dismissed a story linking Cardiff City with a £7m move for Forrest.
Thistle manager Alan Archibald felt his team ran Celtic very close. "I was a lot happier with the second half. I thought in the first half we gave them too much respect. When Celtic get their chances, they take them. I think if we play like that against most other teams we will not be far away. I think the effort and commitment was there for everyone to see."
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