Celtic left it late against Aberdeen to seal Wilfried Nancy’s first win in charge of the club, as Kieran Tierney and James Forrest grabbed last-gasp goals.

The Hoops were drawing 1-1 with the Dons with 15 minutes to play, on course for a fifth straight game without a win, before Tierney popped up in the 88th minute to put them 2-1 up.

The moment that changed the game was created by substitute Colby Donovan, whose brilliant cross found the former Arsenal man at the back post to score.

Why Wilfried Nancy must finally unleash Colby Donovan

Nancy’s new 3-4-2-1 system has slowed down the academy graduate’s progress at Parkhead, because he has not started any of the manager’s games in charge yet.

This fresh formation means that there is no right-back position, which is where Donovan typically plays, in the side. Instead, there is a right-sided centre-back role and a right wing-back role.

Donovan should finally be unleashed as a starter by Nancy in a new role for him as a wing-back, because he has the attacking qualities to potentially be an effective player in that position.

The 19-year-old starlet has provided three assists in 12 appearances in the Scottish Premiership and Europa League combined this season, per Sofascore, including the one for Liam Scales against Sturm Graz in the clip above.

Donovan provided another reminder of the quality that he can offer at the top end of the pitch with his sublime ball into the box for Celtic’s second goal against Aberdeen, and that is why he should start in that new role against Livingston this afternoon.

If Nancy unleashes the teenage talent as a starter in that position, there could be an opportunity for another player in the squad to be sold next month.

The Celtic flop who should be sold in January

Since the new manager came through the door to play a new formation at Parkhead, Hyun-jun Yang has been playing as a wing-back for the Scottish giants.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Expand Collapse

The South Korean attacker has started four of the manager’s five matches in all competitions, starting every game other than the League Cup final against St Mirren, but he has not offered much in the way of quality in the final third.

Since signing in 2023, the 23-year-old winger has only scored nine goals and provided ten assists in 63 appearances for Celtic in all competitions to date, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he has not offered a consistent threat in front of goal.

Journalist Graham Spiers noted that Yang is an “often-maligned” player, possibly because of his lack of goal contributions, but hailed some of the work that he did for Brendan Rodgers and Martin O’Neill.

His last two starts, against Dundee United and Aberdeen, show the best and the worst of the forward, explaining both why he may be underrated, yet also why the Hoops should cash in on him.

Hyun-jun Yang

Vs Dundee United

Vs Aberdeen

Minutes

86

69

Pass accuracy

94%

96%

Duels won

8/13

5/10

Tackles won

3/3

1/1

Shots on target

0

0

Key passes

0

1

Big chances created

0

0

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Yang did a lot of good work as a wing-back in those two matches, as he was reliable defensively and with his passes, but he lacked quality in and around the box, with no ‘big chances’ created or shots on target.

Subscribe to the newsletter for Celtic transfer & tactic insight Want clearer context on Celtic? Subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth takes on tactics, rising talents like Colby Donovan and transfer chatter. Focused analysis ties match moments to squad decisions so you know what matters next. Subscribe Subscribe to the newsletter for Celtic transfer & tactic insight Want clearer context on Celtic? Subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth takes on tactics, rising talents like Colby Donovan and transfer chatter. Focused analysis ties match moments to squad decisions so you know what matters next.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Unfortunately, lacking quality in the final third has been the theme of the South Korean’s overall career at Parkhead, as evidenced by his aforementioned output for the club to date.

Yang has produced two goals and no assists in 19 appearances in all competitions this season, per Sofascore, which means that he has even fewer goal contributions than Donovan, who has recorded three assists.

This suggests that the Scottish full-back may carry an even greater threat at the top end of the pitch than the South Korean flop as a wing-back, which is why Nancy should make this change to the starting XI.

Related Bad news for Scales: Celtic opens talks to sign "immense" star in January

Celtic have reportedly opened talks to sign a star in a deal that could spell bad news for Liam Scales.

Posts ByDan Emery

Replacing Yang with Donovan would then allow the club to finally cash in on the winger, who would then not be a starting-calibre player, amid reported interest from Birmingham, Norwich, and Preston.

The England team after putting the Sri Lankan team into bat on a rainaffected first day of the second under-19’s Test match at Northamptonfailed to press home the advantage.Sri Lanka, one down in the series, were at one stage 79 for 3 butrallied to make 223 for 5 at the end of day thanks to a stand of 98between Thilina Kandamby (58) and Jehan Mubarak (46) in 34 overs. Theopeners Ian Daniels (38) and Nimesh Perera (27) put on 51 runs in 12overs when the latter was out to Tim Murtagh. Malintha Gajanayake wasthe next to go, dismissed by Justin Biship for 1. Then Daniels left at79. The fourth wicket stand between Kandamby and Mubarak initiated arecovery before left arm spinner Monty Panesar bowled Mubarak for 46.Finally Kandamby succumbed to Bishop.Kaushalya Weeraratne and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara played out tillthe end of the day.

	Jhulan Goswami became the second Indian woman to reach the 100-wicket landmark in ODIs © ICC

Jhulan Goswami has become the fourth woman to reach 100 wickets in one-dayers after she took 2 for 25 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup. She is only the second Indian woman, after Neetu David, also playing the Asia Cup, to reach the landmark.No. 100 came when she had Deepika Rasangika caught off the penultimate ball of innings.Last year she won the ICC Women’s Player of the Year, beating stiff competition offered by Australia’s Lisa Stahlekar and England’s Claire Taylor.In her first three years, from 2002, Goswami took only 38 wickets. Between 2005 and 2008, she picked up 62 wickets at a phenomenal average of 19. While it took her 82 matches to reach the landmark, Cathryn Fitzpatrick and David, got to theirs in under 65 games.Before the start of the Asia Cup, Goswami said there were a lot of expectations from her to reach 100 wickets in Sri Lanka. “Back home people are watching me quite carefully because every match they expect five wickets which is not easy, she said. “I want to enjoy my game and play my best cricket. “It is great times for women’s cricket. So many things are happening at the moment and things are changing day by day which is good.”Her captain Mithali Raj was happy to have two bowlers with 100 wickets each in her side. “Now we want our other bowlers to get to this landmark as well – Amita Sharma and Rumeli Dhar,” she told Cricinfo.India and Sri Lanka have qualified for the final of the Asia Cup, scheduled for Saturday in Kurunegala.

ScorecardChris Read saw Notts home at Aigburth [file picture]•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire continued their march towards the Royal London Cup quarter-finals by beating Lancashire by four wickets in a tense clash at Liverpool, their fourth win from five Group B matches.The Outlaws restricted the Lightning to a below par 216 for 8 having invited them to bat on a testing but far from impossible batting surface.Karl Brown top-scored for the hosts with 77 off 114 balls, but Samit Patel’s 3 for 31 from five overs of left-arm spin was central to a late innings stumble.Seamer Gavin Griffiths and off-spinner Arron Lilley then shared five wickets as Notts slipped to 146 for 6 in the 35th over of their chase, including James Taylor for 56 off 77 – his third successive fifty.But their heroes were seventh-wicket pair Chris Read and Brett Hutton, who hit 47 not out and 33 not out respectively and shared 71 in 12 overs to seal the two points.Earlier, Lancashire lost five for 42 to slip from 162 for 3 in the 42nd over, with Jake Ball also taking 2 for 24 from eight.The Lightning were on course for 240 or 250 with Brown and captain Steven Croft in partnership for the fourth wicket. They shared 66 in 15 overs before departing in successive Patel overs.Patel only came into the attack to bowl the 38th over and had Brown stumped in the 42nd and Croft caught at deep square-leg in the 44th. He later had James Faulkner caught behind off a top-edge.Aside from giving Brown two lives on five and 39, Notts’ catching was impressive.Notts lost openers Riki Wessels and Alex Hales (32), as well as Brendan Taylor, inside eleven overs of their chase to 21-year-old Griffiths, leaving the score at 53 for 3.Wessels was caught at deep backward square-leg in the seventh over, Griffiths’ first, before Hales was brilliantly caught and bowled one-handed and Taylor caught at mid-off in the space of three balls in the eleventh.James Taylor and Patel (29) shared 51 inside 12 overs to steady the ship before the latter found deep mid-wicket off Stephen Parry’s left-arm spin in the 23rd over.The target became double figures in the 28th with Taylor closing in on his half-century.When Lilley had Steven Mullaney caught at leg slip in the 31st and Taylor stumped in the 35th, Notts were six down and still 71 short of their target.Read and Hutton, however, calmly saw their side home with a little over three overs to spare.Lancashire have now lost three of their first five matches in this competition and realistically need to win their last three to have any hopes of progressing through to the last eight.

ScorecardJoe Clarke stood out with his maiden Championship hundred – a shining light on a bleak day for Worcestershire•Getty Images

Worcestershire are 13 points adrift from safety with two games remaining after suffering a thumping defeat, by an innings and 63 runs, against Sussex at New Road. To make matters worse, the two counties above them, Somerset and Hampshire, have a match in hand. The upshot is that they will need to win their last two matches to have a chance of staying up – a depressing state of affairs for their director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, as he marks 10 years in charge.They are the bald facts. But even on this forlorn day, as they lost with 26 overs remaining, there was rich consolation. Joe Clarke’s maiden Championship hundred, from 174 balls with 14 fours, filled the afternoon with optimism, his achievement coming amid considerable tension with Worcestershire’s last pair at the crease.A delightful cover drive when Chris Jordan overpitched, with the last man Saeed Ajmal looking on from the other end, brought a rare purr on a day when Worcestershire returned to the bottom of the table for the first time since mid-June. Sussex, by virtue of their first Championship win in nine matches, advanced to fourth from bottom.It was a close run thing for Clarke, if not for Worcestershire. When a succession of deliveries thudding into Jack Shantry’s pads finally brought an lbw decision for Luke Wells – the fifth of the innings – Clarke was 97, the tea interval was pushed back and, with the new ball only two balls away, Ajmal walked out for his last contribution of the season for Worcestershire – perhaps his last ever – before he departs for the Hajj festival. That exit came with spread-eagled stumps against Steve Magoffin, armed with the new ball.

The relegation battle

Sussex 14 matches – 146 points
Somerset 13-133
Hampshire 13-128
Worcestershire 14-120

Rhodes’ work ethic and determination has helped to keep Worcestershire honest since his rapid elevation to the top role upon Tom Moody’s departure to coach Sri Lanka in 2005. He takes fierce pride in Worcestershire’s self-sufficiency, committing himself ceaselessly to the development of young players, of which Clarke, a 19-year-old from Shrewsbury, is set to be a fine representative. Sussex’s change bowling was limited, and the pitch remained quite sound, but he repelled two fine bowlers in Magoffin and Jordan as he played Worcestershire’s one innings of true quality in the match.Michael Vaughan watched him make 88 at Scarborough, his previous career best, and immediately tipped him as a future England batsman. England’s selectors are already excited by his potential, regarding him as one of the best young batsmen in the country. Having signed a new contract, he may need to further his education in Division Two.Worcestershire deserve that faith. This season, their overseas bowler Ajmal apart, they have at times fielded a side that has only ever played county cricket for the club. “Quite a feat I reckon,” Dave Bradley, of BBC Hereford and Worcester, has observed, and so it is.With three wickets already down overnight, and still 241 needed to make Sussex bat again, Worcestershire’s fate looked as good as sealed at the start of the final day.Three more fell by lunchtime despite showers robbing 12 overs from the morning. Slight unease began to gather for Sussex when the seventh-wicket pair resisted until mid-afternoon, but OIlie Robinson switched to offspin guise, which he first unveiled in county cricket against Warwickshire earlier this season, to bowl Ben Cox on the slog-sweep with a lavishly-flighted delivery. Seam is still very much his lead suit, but the affable manner of his offspin captures his laid-back personality. After that, it was a matter of awaiting Sussex’s victory and hoping for Clarke’s hundred. Both duly came.As debates take place about the structure of county cricket, it is not a good time for Worcestershire to be a yo-yo club. If the decision is taken to reshape the Championship into two divisions of eight and 10 in 2017 then the likelihood is that there would be only one promotion place on offer next season. A lot of ifs perhaps, but not the sort of outcome that would suit a county that has had five promotions and five relegations in the past 12 years. For Rhodes, it has literally been a decade of ups and downs.No side is too good to go down, as is habitually observed, but Sussex come closer to that assessment than most. They have been stricken by bowling injuries for much of the season, and like many counties their spin options are limited, but they have been vastly superior in this game. It helps, of course, when Jordan is fit again and giving every indication of a vigorous end to the season.But Sussex, despite this win, cannot entirely relax. They have moved up to fourth bottom, 13 points clear of Somerset, 18 ahead of Hampshire, but both these counties have a game in hand and meet next week at Taunton in another significant relegation encounter.At least one of these counties will be close enough to disturb Sussex with two matches remaining, making their final home match of the season, against Somerset the following week, another game that will have a major bearing on the relegation places.

The Pakistan selectors have retained offspinner Bilal Asif for the ODI series against Zimbabwe, in a bid to assess his credentials ahead of the England Test series. The idea is to have someone to fill the bowling hole left by Mohammad Hafeez, who has been banned for one year for an illegal bowling action.Asif was originally only part of the T20 squad visiting Zimbabwe, but did not make it to the playing XI. He was also selected for Sri Lanka ODI series but returned without making a debut. Almost 30, he has 32 wickets in 11 first-class games at 28.90 apiece.”The request to retain Bilal Asif had been made by the team management, as conveyed by the manager Mr Intikhab Alam,” chief selector Haroon Rashid said in a statement. “In a separate discussion with Misbah-ul-Haq, it was put forth by the Pakistan Test captain that since the England team contains five left-handed batsmen and because of Hafeez’s inability to bowl at international level, we were left with no offspin bowling options in the Test squad.”Pakistan have picked two other spinners for England series – legspinner Yasir Shah and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar. The selectors named Hafeez as a specialist batsman in the squad, along with two more openers – Ahmed Shehzad and Shan Masood, with Azhar Ali the No. 3 batsman.”Misbah suggested that since Bilal Asif is presently the standout available option in the domestic circuit, so if we can try him in the ODI matches against Zimbabwe for assessing his offspin bowling credentials, it may help us in case we intended to add him as the 16th member in the Test squad against England,” Rashid said.”We have already picked two left-arm spin bowlers in the Pak ‘A’ team to the UAE for this purpose but if Bilal Asif is found up to the mark in Zimbabwe, then we can have him in the Test squad as an offspinner along with leggie Yasir Shah and left-arm spin of Zulfiqar Babar. The suggestion was discussed by the selectors, as well as with head coach Waqar Younis, and there was unanimity of view on the issue.”Pakistan play three ODIs in Zimbabwe, starting on October 1.

England are attempting to replicate the intensity of a match situation during training to eradicate the no-balls which have proved costly for them this year, but Alastair Cook is convinced the issue stems from fewer on-field calls being made.In the first Test, Stuart Broad had Shoaib Malik caught at slip on 40 only for replays to show he had overstepped. Earlier in the same day Broad had overstepped by a distance but not been called. It was the sixth time this year that England had been denied a wicket in such a fashion, following two apiece by Mark Wood and Steven Finn during the summer, and one by Ben Stokes in the West Indies.At training, bowling coach Ottis Gibson is trying to ensure bowlers come off their full runs and take the same care in marking their delivery stride as they would in a match situation. At a net session on Tuesday, Gibson could be heard calling no-balls and during the first Test Broad pondered whether it would be possible to have umpires at net sessions.”It’s incredibly frustrating,” Cook said of the transgressions. “One of the frustrating bits is there has been less and less no-balls called in games and you always know as a bowler if you’re never getting called you don’t really do too much about it.”In the nets, Gibbo is onto the guys making sure it’s their full run-up and they’re not bowling no-balls. It is incredibly frustrating not only for the ten other guys but the one bloke who must feel terrible. No one means to do it but we are working hard to make sure we don’t do it again.”The question of calling no-balls on-field was raised at an ICC briefing to the media in Dubai on Monday. Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager of cricket, said that umpires still confer with bowlers to warn them when they are getting tight to the line, but confirmed that the instruction was only to call them if they are sure, because once a no-ball is called the subsequent actions cannot be overturned.Stuart Broad comes in off his long run in training•Getty Images

He said there were no plans in the near future to take the process out of the hands of the on-field umpires, largely because the officials themselves have said they want to retain the authority in the middle. Umpires, partly for safety, now stand further back from the stumps than they used to while there are some bowlers, such as Finn, who have an action which blocks off the view of the front foot.Cook, himself, fell victim to a missed no-ball when his dismissal against Shoaib Malik was not referred to the third umpire, only for replays to show that Malik’s foot had landed over the line before dragging back, which made it an illegal delivery.Although frustrating for Cook, who was eyeing a maiden Test triple hundred having previously fallen for 294 against India in 2011, he did have the compensation of setting a vital tone for England’s series with his 14-hour 263. His performance, which helped England pile up 598 for 9, ensured there were no early reminders of the batting woes which struck their previous visit here in 2012 when they passed 300 only once and where 94 by Cook was the highest individual score.Cook said he did not envisage any problem in refocusing his energies in a bid for a repeat performance this week, but was aware that Pakistan’s attack will be strengthened by the return of Yasir Shah on a surface expected to have more life.”It’s always a nice place to be as a batter, to score runs early in a series. I know my game is working well. I don’t think it’s any more or less daunting. For me it’s about rhythm – I had a hit yesterday and felt in good touch. You need a little bit of luck to get in and then it’s a question of whether you can get into that rhythm and go big again. If you get in here, you have to go big.”Pakistan missed [Yasir] last game, he’s done well but we were prepared to play him in Abu Dhabi. He will strengthen their bowling.”It will turn more and a bit quicker – last time there was more for the seamers. It’s a unique stadium, the shadow is still there at 10am and that allows for dampness in the wicket and movement. It should be a better cricket wicket.”

ScorecardNikita Miller’s match haul of 9 for 113 and an important knock of 39 in the second innings led Jamaica to a 30-run win over Windward Islands at Sabina Park. Miller, who took five wickets in the second innings, bowled Windward out for 145 in a chase of 176 and added to his first-innings returns of 4 for 67.With the bat, Miller rescued Jamaica from a score of 25 for 7, sharing a 76-run partnership with Damion Jacobs for the seventh wicket after Shane Shillingford and Mervin Matthew had cut through the batting. Both Shillingford and Matthew finished with five-fors. The partnership between Miller and Jacobs helped stretch Jamaica’s first-innings lead of 47 to 175, which proved too much for Windward.Jamaica posted 259 in their first innings, building around Andre McCarthy’s 92, while John Campbell and David Bernard chipped in with 43. Liam Sebastien was the pick of Windward bowlers with figures of 7 for 58. Windward managed 212 in response, the only noteable score being Sunil Ambris’ 89. Apart from Miller, Jacobs was also among the wickets in the first innings, taking 3 for 76.

Ben Smith – innings determined outcome Photo © John Dawson

Leicestershire are unlikely to suffer the fate of Middlesex and have pointsdeducted for the state of their pitch after their Division One championshipmatch with Durham ended with a day to spare.With the visitors managing only 93 Leicestershire won by 217 runs. Phil Sharpe, a ECB liason officer, watched the game over the first two days as there had been concern over the pitch for two days before the game got underway. Vince Wells and Jack Birkenshaw, captain and manager of Leicestershire respectively,admitted that all was well with the pitch.Birkenshaw stated: “We don’t want pitches like this, but it was caused by circumstances.” The ball kept low throughout. Ben Smith’s fine first innings was exceptional in the circumstances and determined the outcome.After recent disappointments Leicestershire were encouraged by theirsuccess.

The KSCA Diamond Jubilee Tournament saw yet another strong side from Chennai advance as Chemplast beat ONGC by 4 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. When ONGC won the toss, skipper Vadhera opted to bat first. His decision looked like the right one when openers Gagan Khoda and Manoj Mudgal put together a 50 run opening partnership. Mudgal (31) was castled by Balajee and soon after the wickets began to fall at regular intervals.Left arm spinner Diwakar Vasu got his act together, trapping his opposition captain LBW with the score on 76. Rizwan Shamshad and Virendra Sehwag both failed to make significant contributions. With the score on 143, Khoda, who was holding one end up was dismissed one run short of his half century. Vasu then scalped three quick wickets, getting rid of the tail. He ended with 4/36 off his 10 overs. 202 was all ONGC could muster before they were all out in the last of their allotted 50 overs.In response, Chemplast began badly, losing Badrinath before he could open his account. Punjab cricketer Dinesh Mongia played a solid knock, making 59 in the middle order. Batting around him, Jacob Martin (27), Vasant Saravanan (32) and Ajay Kudua (36) took Chemplast to a four wicket victory with a little more than an over to spare.