Celtic 'empty jersey' claim and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lack of minutes addressed

The former England, Arsenal and Liverpool star was initially signed as a free agent on a short-term contract by Martin O'Neill in February after spending months without a club following his release by Besiktas.

The 33-year-old defied concerns over his match fitness to make 12 appearances and score two goals to help Celtic claim a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double before signing a one-year contract extension in the summer.

However, he has struggled to make his mark on the first-team this term with only three starts and three substitute appearances in 17 games across all competitions.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has remained an unused substitute in all but one of Celtic's last six league matches, only coming on for the final half hour of the 7-1 victory over Hearts.

Premier Sports pundit Michael Stewart has offered a possible explanation for the situation by suggesting that O'Neill has now settled on his strongest midfield.

"For me, personally, it falls into same category as Rangers with Derek McInnes," Stewart told The Scottish Football Social Club podcast. "O'Neill and McInnes feel to me like two managers who are loathe to make changes.

"When they have got a bit of a rythmn and winning games, it's like, 'we are sticking with that team'.

"For Celtic, when you look at the frontline that was so devastating against Hearts, I know Kasper Hogh came back in at the weekend, so he then doesn't want to change the mideild too much.

"Where he is making changes, it's almost like, 'right, I've made one there, I'm not making anything else'. There are a limited number of changes. And midfield in particular, I can understand why there are questions about can Oxlade-Chamberlain not get more minutes, because [Callum] McGregor, [Mika] Baur and [Benjamin] Nygren have played a lot of games. Clearly that's their main midfield."

Stewart also suggested that the lack of rotation between McGregor and Oxlade-Chamberlain could cause a fatigue issue for the Celtic captain down the line.

He added: "You get to the point at some stage they are going to have to [rest McGregor], otherwise the load will eventually cause a problem."

Stewart also addressed the notion that some Celtic supporters view Nygren as an "empty jersey", despite the Sweden midfielder contributing eight goals in 17 appearances this season.

"For me you would always have Nygren in the team because he's capable of scoring such big goals," Stewart said. "I don't think he's as much of an empty jersey as some feel. So I would disagree slightly with that."

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