Eyeballs were turned towards Dingwall on Tuesday with the news of Celtic B’s starting XI in the Scottish Challenge Cup.

Along with a first sighting of £3 million midfield signing Joel van den Berg, there were also starts for Chelsea loanee teenagers Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo.

Both loanees were brought to Glasgow from Stamford Bridge in the dying embers of the transfer window. A few days later, Martin O’Neill named his 25-man Europa League squad. The pair, as well as Van den Berg, were not included.

Fast forward two months, and they’re in the Highlands with the young team on a Tuesday night as a result. You could frame this as a logical decision to maintain match sharpness, but B-team standouts Lucas Clearie and Joseph Haney would have something to say about that.

Lucas Clearie denied a starting slot at his own age level by a non-Celtic player

As the current leaders of Scottish League One, County are the highest-ranked team in the Challenge Cup. The encounter was an opportunity for B team players to test themselves against a better standard of opposition than usual.

For in-form striker Clearie — 17 goals in 14 games so far this season — it would’ve been an especially good opportunity to make a statement. Alas, a striker with European knockout football on his CV was used in his place.

Topical at the moment in Scottish football is the so-often-blocked pathway for young players into the first team. Wednesday was a rare example of players having their pathway into the B team blocked.

This happened as a direct result of Celtic’s bloated first-team squad. Whilst there is undoubtedly room in the squad for investments such as Van den Berg, last-minute loan deals such as Emenalo and Mheuka may be doing more harm for the club than good.

Both loanees have been signed to take up bit-part background roles in the first team. What kind of message does that send to the B team? Despite the club’s proud claim that they run a ‘Champions League academy’, they actively turn their heads away from its best players in favour of teenagers from an *actual* Champions League setup.

Whatever your opinion is on the ongoing exodus of talented players from Celtic and the rest of Scotland, the current situation is unsustainable and can only be addressed through serious change. The only other option is simply packing it in.

If you were a 16-year-old Celtic player weighing up an offer to join Crystal Palace today, you’d present yourself with the facts. Your chance of breaking through at both clubs is equally slim, but the Premier League offers better facilities, more coaches, higher wages and a greater standard. No wonder so many are leaving.

Only by changing their attitude towards handing opportunities to young players can Celtic buck this trend. If that idea doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t actually want the situation to improve.

Clearie’s goal record in the Lowland League is excellent and deserving of recognition. Last night, the club’s refusal to reserve first-team slots for standout youth players cost him a starting place at his own age level.

For him and every other talented teenager to show signs of promise from now on, the club’s conundrum is simple: use them or lose them.