Even Nakamura is fearing for his place now that Celtic have genuine strength in depth

• More Celtic news

Easy, bring on the best native dead-ball expert in Scottish football.

So it transpired at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon as Gordon Strachan withdrew Shunsuke Nakamura with the comfort of a 4-1 lead over Aberdeen and introduced Barry Robson for his Celtic debut.

Scroll down for more

Like for like: Nakamura (above) and Robson are competing for places in midfield

All of 63 seconds later and Robson had proved his £1.2million worth with a trademark set-piece dispatched beyond Jamie Langfield to the admiration of Hoops fans inside the ground, a TV audience and, maybe, the Japanese international watching from the bench.

"I was winding up Barry just before he took that free-kick," Aiden McGeady said with a grin afterwards. "I told him: 'You'd better get this right with Naka off because you may never get another chance.'

"But he put it away brilliantly with his first touch for Celtic and you can't make a better start than that in scoring on your debut."

Robson revelled in the moment, and rightly so, but the fact remains his biggest challenge at Parkhead will be winning a place in Strachan's starting XI.

The January signings have had the effect of prompting better performances from the regular first picks and even Nakamura, last season's Player of the Year, acknowledged that he feels the arrival of the former Dundee United captain threatens his place.

"Ever since I came to Celtic, I've not had a rival for my place on the right side of the midfield," said Nakamura. "But now Barry has come here and he can definitely play out there and cut inside on his left foot as I have done in the past.

"It is good to have competition - good for the team and good for the individuals involved. I must now fight for my place in the team, although Robson can play in more than one position.

"He's a strong player physically and he can play in the centre of midfield or out on the left-hand side, as well.

"The season in Scotland is long with a number of games in different competitions, so I'm sure we will need everyone in the squad."

Fellow Japanese Bhoy Koki Mizuno is also expected to challenge for the right midfield role, presumably once he has served a period of adjustment to Scottish football.

Robson's chances of beating McGeady to a place on the left look slim to minimal.

The Republic of Ireland international is hitting a consistent run of fine form this season, with Pittodrie's masterclass the culmination of that.

He supplied Nakamura for the first goal and was still terrorising Aberdeen in the final 10 minutes as Celtic led 5-1. He has added hunger, a work ethic and an end product to the natural skills that were obvious from the age of 16.

"Aiden was brilliant at Pittodrie and he is very important to us," added Nakamura.

"We were involved in an away game which should be a tough fixture and, in those circumstances, scoring the first goal can be quite significant. So I was very happy to score it after Aiden supplied me with a ball across the penalty area.

"It was a good cross."

Scroll down for more

The Japanese midfielder is nothing if not a perfectionist, however, and in his post-Pittodrie analysis found time to insist his own link-up with Andreas Hinkel must improve and so, overall, must Celtic's passing.

"I know that Andreas and I can play better together," added Nakamura. "It was not so good on Sunday but I'm certain we can improve.

"We must improve our passing as a team. We still hit too many long, high balls from the back. We face Barcelona soon and it is vital against them to retain possession.

"I'd love to be playing more through balls for the likes of Scott McDonald, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras."

Robson, for his part, is burning with ambition to make up for lost time in terms of medals. Sweet though Sunday was, the reality for the 29-year-old is that he spent almost 75 minutes as a spectator from the bench.

"I want to play but, at a big club like Celtic, there are so many players and everybody needs to rotate a bit at certain times," he said after his goalscoring debut.

"As long as I play the majority of the games and I am playing well, that is my main aim. It is great to be at a massive football club and I want to play at the highest level. I want to play in the Champions League and win titles and cups - that is why I came here."

Playing the 'majority of the games' looks the tricky bit but there is little doubt Robson can contribute to Celtic as they chase the title, the Scottish Cup and await the mouth-watering showdown with Barcelona.

Sportsmail recently highlighted his capacity as a midfield goalscorer par excellence and, with Nakamura, McGeady and Robson all on target, no wonder Strachan savoured his return to Pittodrie last Sunday a day after turning 51.

The manager isn't obliged to indulge in favouritism, just to cajole the best possible performances he can from individuals and the collective.

Samaras's arrival has had a galvanising effect on the front two, while Robson's presence seemed to make Scott Brown play better on Sunday.

German defender Hinkel looked a little rusty, which is only natural given he has not had much match action over the last two months.

Neither was Massimo Donati's absence any great loss, while the same could be said about the departed Jiri Jarosik and Maciej Zurawski.

The Czech midfielder and Polish forward simply were not enough of a threat to those wearing the Hoops through December.

If Nakamura is now fearing for his place, then that is the kind of competition Strachan craves for Celtic as they chase glory on three fronts.