Former Scotland international Jackie McNamara believes that injury was the reason as to why Mohamed Elyounoussi wasn’t at his best in last week’s Scottish League Cup final.
Speaking to Football Insider, the Glasgow-born defender who spent 10 years at Celtic claimed that the Southampton loanee was poor against Rangers at Hamden Park due to an injury the Norwegian international had been nursing over the past few weeks.
Elyounoussi has been in sensational form for Neil Lennon’s side this season, with stats from Transfermarkt showing that the Moroccan-born attacker has already managed seven goals and six assists in 13 appearances for Celtic this season, yet a recent foot injury has kept the 25-year-old winger out of action for nearly three weeks.
Should Elyounoussi be in the Saints first-team next season?Yes, he has warranted a second chanceNo, sell him on
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The former FC Basel star started the League Cup final against Rangers but was substituted off at the start of the second half in a game in which Celtic fans would have been relieved to have won given how dominant Steven Gerrard’s side were on the day.
McNamara said about Elyounoussi’s performance: “Yeah he’s just come back from injury and he’s not quite right. He didn’t look as good as what he has been recently when he’s played but that’s the effect the injury has had. But aye, he was way off it, and coming off at half-time was the right decision.”
It was a damming sign of power from Lennon to whisk Elyounoussi off the pitch at half-time against Rangers, but from a Southampton perspective, it was seemingly the right move to make for their attacker.
The 25-year-old attacker has certainly re-found his confidence and form since joining the Parkhead side in the summer for the season, and carrying on to play against Rangers whilst still injured could have resulted in an even worse problem for Elyounoussi, who is seemingly catching the eye of Southampton officials this year in Scotland.
