Giorgos Giakoumakis didn't feature for Celtic against Ross County this weekend because he's still getting up to speed, according to The Athletic's Kieran Devlin. 

The lowdown

The Bhoys ran out 3-0 victors on Saturday, returning to winning ways after their derby defeat prior to the international break. New signing Cameron Carter-Vickers put them in front before Albian Ajeti scored twice in the final 20 minutes.

The Swiss striker led the line for the Hoops, with deadline day signing Giakoumakis left out of the matchday squad by Ange Postecoglou.

The Greek has arrived in Glasgow as a replacement for Odsonne Edouard, who has moved on to Premier League side Crystal Palace.

The latest

In a Q&A for The Athletic on the day of the match, one Celtic supporter fumed that Ajeti was the only centre-forward in the matchday squad and referenced how Postecoglou had said that the Greek striker did not have the benefit of a pre-season at Lennoxtown.

In reply to that comment, Devlin said: "Been told Giakoumakis will need some time to get up to speed yeah, apparently rusty (to put it mildly) in training."

The verdict

It's probably sensible in the long run for Postecoglou to hold Giakoumakis back until he's ready. By throwing him in at the deep end too early, he might lose confidence.

However, that pragmatism from the manager needs to be balanced with the demands of Celtic's schedule. For instance, they face a tricky Europa League group stage opener at Real Betis on Thursday evening.

If Celtic lose in Spain and Giakoumakis, a scorer of 29 goals last season, is left at home, some fans might be asking questions of Postecoglou's decision in that scenario.

In other news, Chris Sutton floats this intriguing possibility in the wake of Dominic McKay's exit.