Celtic’s pre-season is well and truly underway after travelling to play Ayr United at Somerset Park on Friday night.

Commemorating the opening of a new stand, the Bhoys brought thousands of travelling fans with them, bolstering the coffers of Scott Brown’s side.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw thanks to two penalties at each end in the first half. Odin Thiago Holm was tripped in the box, allowing Kyogo Furuhashi to score from the spot in the 24th minute.

Then, 10 minutes from the interval, Anton Dowds netted at the other end after a clumsy foul committed by youngster Lenny Agbaire.

As a rule, we don’t read too much into pre-season results which are fitness exercises and nothing more. Nonetheless, it’s worth tracking who played for Brendan Rodgers and how the match played out with the manager fielding two different teams in each half.

First half

Team: Scott Bain, Josh Dede, Maik Nawrocki (sub Lenny Agbaire 19), Stephen Welsh, Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata, Odin Holm, Kyle Ure, Nicolas Kuhn, Andy Kyle, Kyogo Furuhashi.

The opening 45 minutes was every bit an early pre-season affair. Neither team played with much intensity and there were scrappy periods of play. If not for the penalties it would have been a non-event.

There was one concern – Maik Nawrocki’s substitution. The centre-back limped out of the match within 20 minutes and reached for the ice bags on the sideline.

After plenty of injury issues last term it’s a blow he doesn’t need, although we don’t know the extent of the issue at this stage.

With so many players still on international duty or enjoying a holiday, Celtic will get stronger as the summer rolls on – hopefully with a few new signings.

Second half

Team: Tobi Oluwayemi (sub Josh Clarke 66), Mitchel Frame, Dane Murray, Lenny Agbaire, Colby Donovan, Bosun Lawal, Hyeokkyu Kwon, Jude Bonnar, Hyunjun Yang, Thomas Hatton, Hyeongyu Oh.

Despite a lack of goals, the second period was arguably a more entertaining affair. Celtic were a little more direct and threatening in open play, with Ayr showing signs of life, too.

Neither side could quite find their way to a winner before the match again started to peter out.

From a Bhoys perspective, Bosun Lawal showed bright glimpses in midfield to set up attacks while it was good to see Dane Murray make a return in defence after all of his injury problems.

It was a very youthful side looking for their way to victory so nothing can be read too much into the performance.

Goalkeeper Josh Clarke, who has spent time out on loan at Ayr, showed off his talents with a couple of crucial saves as the clock ticked towards 90.