It probably says much about the parlous situation Celtic find themselves in that a player who many fans harboured serious reservations about before he joined the club is now being viewed as the potential saviour of the season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hadn’t kicked a ball in earnest in eight months when he took the park against Livingston earlier this month.
His spectacular introduction saw him rescue a victory with a moment of sublime skill. With a further 45 minutes under his belt in what proved to be another late show for Martin O’Neill’s side at Kilmarnock, the former Arsenal, Liverpool and Besiktas man is in contention to start against Hibernian.
While this undoubtedly spells good news for a side needing every point they can muster in this tightest of title races, it would surely be folly to assume that a 32-year-old who joined as a free agent possesses a magic wand.
As Benjamin Nygren acknowledged, relying on any one individual to be the difference-maker across the forthcoming 12 league matches is a mindset the players cannot ill-afford to lapse into.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has made a big impact at Celtic since signing on February 7
Oxlade-Chamberlain launches an attack in Celtic’s 3-2 win over Kilmarnock
‘He’s such an experienced player with an amazing career,’ said the Swede. ‘He’s won so many titles and has played at the highest level for so many years.
‘So, of course, you can see the quality he has. He showed it on his debut, a beautiful finish, so he’s going to be an important player for us the rest of the season. But all of us need to do very well. It’s not up to one person to save us all.
‘We need to do good, all of us. You win the games as a team. So, that’s what we need to focus on.’
Ineligible for the midweek mauling at the hands of VfB Stuttgart, Oxlade-Chamberlain used the opportunity to hone his fitness at Lennoxtown.
His availability for O’Neill is a boon for the manager not only on account of his quality and experience, but the lift his presence should give a dressing room which was badly hurting after Thursday.
Those who did spent the night chasing red jerseys cannot dwell on such a sobering experience. Hibs are not part of the conversation in terms of winning the title, but they can assuredly wound sides with ambitions of doing just that.
Benjamin Nygren scored his 17th goal of the season in the first-leg defeat against Stuttgart
‘The games come so quick now, so we need to have our full focus on the important game on Sunday,’ added Nygren. ‘I’ve said it many times the last couple of weeks that we need to win every game. That’s how it is.
‘That’s what we’ve been doing in the league the last couple of weeks, but we need to continue in that way. It’s in our hands and we’ll do everything to continue to keep on winning. You need to respect every team you face and we always need a good performance to win the game. That’s what we need to do Sunday.’
Nygren provided the only moment of real joy for the home supporters on a difficult night, capitalising on a Stuttgart mistake to briefly level the game.
As welcome as it was at the time, a 17th club goal of the season for the player was scant consolation by the time the Germans had eased to a first leg victory which rendered the return a formality.
‘Myself and everyone else hoped for a lot more on the night, so I’m very disappointed in the result,’ he reflected.
‘It wasn’t good enough. Of course, there’s always hope. Everything can happen in football. You get a quick goal and they can get nervous.
‘It’s a lot of things that can happen, so we’ve only played half of it. We need to go over there and give it everything.’
In all likelihood, top performers like Nygren will be nowhere near it next week.
With the side needing a miracle and a trip to Ibrox arriving on the Sunday, common sense suggests that O’Neill will play a weakened side in Germany and hope to limit the damage.
New striker Tomas Cvancara is keen to add to his goal tally for Celtic
While Europe has gone for another year, Celtic still have the title and the Scottish Cup to play for. But with a trip to Pittodrie the meat in the sandwich between Ibrox league and cup engagements and Motherwell also due soon at Parkhead, you sense that a great deal is going on the line across the next month.
‘Our goal is to win the title,’ said striker Tomas Cvancara. ‘This is something we have spoken about together multiple times together. But we now have a very difficult programme in front of us, so we have to go game by game and just keep going.
‘The first is the visit of Hibs on Sunday and it is a very important game. It was a very difficult game at Kilmarnock last week, but we showed a great mentality to come back from two down to win it.
‘To do so was very special and we can build on that. For sure, that same spirit can help us bounce back from this disappointment with a win on Sunday. If you look at our league form, you can see we have been building up momentum.’
On the limited evidence to date, Cvancara looks capable of shouldering the load in the way in which Nygren is demanding.
Tomas Cvancara celebrates at full-time after Celtic’s 3-2 win over Kilmarnock
Although he’s only managed only one goal in six appearances since joint on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach, he demonstrated his intelligence by rolling a defender and setting up Julian Araujo for the 97th minute winner at Rugby Park. And he feels there will be more such moments to come from him as the campaign comes to the boil.
‘In general, I would say things are going well for me here,’ he reflected. ‘The boys in the dressing room are very nice, and they have helped me to adapt to Scotland and to Scottish football.
‘Now it is up to me to pay them back and I can do that by scoring goals. I hope to start doing that soon.
‘That is why Celtic brought me here and I feel that I have already shown a little bit of what I can bring to the team. But I am a striker, so I have to also help with goals.
‘It is normal that it takes time to build relationships, on and off the pitch. We have shown already in the league we have a very strong team with a good mentality. We have to remember that.
‘I am happy that I can be here at this massive club and we keep going.’
