Former Michael Beale Rangers lieutenant uses Celtic game to launch his fear for rising Scottish stars

Damian Matthew was a first-team coach at Rangers and he bemoaned the lack of opportunities

Celtic have recorded two eye-catching wins over upper-echelon English opposition on their pre-season jaunt to the USA, but a a lack of opportunities for young Scottish players was the topic of conversation during last night's 4-1 mauling of Chelsea.

Damian Matthew worked as a first-team coach during Michael Beale's ill-fated Rangers spell and the former Chelsea midfielder was on co-commentary duties with Chelsea TV in the Notre Dame Stadium last night.

Speaking in general about first-team pathway hindrances for young English players, the 53-year-old then turned the topic (and indeed the tables) on to the state of play for younger Scottish players, following his own experiences in Glasgow. Upon seeing a raft of substitutions from Brendan Rodgers in the second half in Indiana last night Matthew said: 'Steve Clarke's done a fantastic job with the [Scottish] national team., but the lifeblood of young Scottish players coming through - in my experience up in Scotland - is not enough Ben [Chelsea TV commentator Ben Andrews]. If I'm being blunt. They need this opportunity and this experience is fantastic for them.

Celtic's modus operandi of buy-'em-cheap-and-flip-'em-for-massive-profits has seen them rake in a raft of high transfer fees for some of their younger stars, with Matt O'Riley only available for a record fee this summer and the likes of Kieran Tierney, Jota and Odsonne Edouard making serious profits on their initial investments. With the pull of Premier League megabucks being just over the border, however, both Celtic and Rangers have struggled to keep their elite youth prospects on this side of Hadrian's Wall.

Daniel Kelly has found himself frozen out in the east end after rejecting a new deal and the likes of Ben Doak, Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson have all secured moves south before their careers in Glasgow had barely begun, highlighting a real problem for the country's big two that will take some serious solution sculpting to solve.