Celtic take Fulham defender Rafik Halliche on trial

Halliche played against England in the 2010 World Cup finals

Celtic have taken Fulham's Algerian international Rafik Halliche on trial.

The 25-year-old, who plays in central defence has fallen out of favour at Craven Cottage.

If Celtic are impressed they could sign him in January with the player having played in a bounce game at Celtic's training ground on Wednesday.

Halliche has previously played for NA Hussein Dey, Benfica and Nacional and has been capped on 21 occasions for his country, scoring once.

He came close to joining Swansea on the final day of the summer transfer window but the Welsh club did not receive international clearance to complete the switch.

The bounce match also gave Celtic manager Neil Lennon an opportunity to see players who have recently come back from injury - including Kelvin Wilson, Thomas Rogne and James Keatings - while those lacking match practice such as Paddy McCourt and Charlie Mulgrew also played.

"It was a really worthwhile exercise with Kelvin, Scott, Thomas, Paddy and Mo all getting a good run-out," said Lennon on the official Celtic website.

"I was pleased with the performance and the attitude of the players was great.

"Bangura was excellent and scored two great goals. I was delighted with his performance, and it will have done him the world of good.

"He has looked good in training recently, so he really needed that game time because it will now stand him in good stead for the games coming up."

Halliche has yet to start a match for Fulham, having come on as a substitute against Peterborough United in the FA Cup in January 2011, and against Stoke City in the Premier League two weeks later.

Follow Jane Lewis on Twitter.