He did not admit as much but Mark Wilson must have allowed himself a wry smile on hearing the news that Scott McDonald, Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady, previously near immovable fixtures in the Celtic team, were now subject to the same squad rotation policy that has shaped his two-and-a-half years at Parkhead.
Wilson's ability to play in either full-back position, plus a series of unfortunate injuries, has seen him struggle to establish himself as a mainstay in Gordon Strachan's side since moving from Dundee United in January 2006. The manager's decision to start utilising the full depth of his playing squad this season means no player, regardless of reputation or form, can be guaranteed to feature every week and Wilson believes it is a system that can only be good for the team in the long run.
"Nobody likes being left out and it was a tough one for me last week being left out," he said. "But that's part of being a team. You generally find the teams with large squads, like Manchester United, Chelsea and ourselves, do tend to rotate. The players understand that now and we just have to get on with it. Obviously when injuries start getting picked up there will come a time when we will be stretched. But at the moment everyone is fully fit. It's probably right what the manager's doing as everyone gets a chance and nobody is left sitting wasting away on the bench for six or seven games at a time. Nobody is safe just now but that keeps you on your toes. You don't get into a state of mind where you assume you're in the team. Sometimes when you're like that you go through the motions and think you'll be playing anyway and don't push yourself too hard. But now there's somebody waiting to take your place as soon as you have an average game."
Celtic face Livingston in the third round of the Co-operative Insurance Cup this evening with Wilson hoping they can improve their recent poor form in the competition. "The cup competitions have been a bit of a letdown for us, especially the CIS Cup. In my first season we got to the final and won it but I was cup-tied and didn't play in it. The other two seasons we went out both times at home. So this is a big game for us. Livingston are doing really well just now so it will be tough. It might not be a full house so we will maybe need to create our own atmosphere and tempo of the game. It won't be like a Champions League game when the crowd can lift you when you find it tough. So it's important we get a good start and a good result to start things off in the cup. It's never nice come cup final day like last season to see Rangers, your great rivals, winning it. That's never a nice feeling so to be there in the final this year would be great."
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