Martin O’Neill has revealed Celtic are planning a bounce game to help key players complete their recovery ahead of a crucial run-in.
The Hoops are back in cup action this Sunday against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup semi-final, before attention turns fully to the split, where Celtic must be near-perfect to keep their title hopes alive.
There is some good news on the injury front.
Arne Engels has already returned, coming off the bench in Saturday’s league win over St Mirren.
But Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand are still working their way back after longer spells out with hamstring injuries.
Both are now back in training and Johnston could even be in contention for Sunday’s semi-final.
To bridge that final gap, O’Neill is looking to arrange a bounce game.
He said: “We will try to get a bounce game for some of the players coming back. That was the plan for Alistair Johnston coming back from his time in Canada.
“We were going to organise that and it would help. We don’t want to rush people back but if they are feeling good and want to have a bounce game, that would be ideal.” [RecordSport]
With the stakes rising in both cup and league, Celtic are desperate to get bodies back but without taking unnecessary risks. The timing could be crucial.
The Hoops will have to wait until next season to see Jota and Carter-Vickers back in action. O’Neill believes Jota could be back for pre-season after some injury setbacks.
Their returns would come with a new manager in the Celtic dugout.
The club is run by a set of morons with greed, dubious intentions and a complete lack of character, honesty and intelligence.
The club has also developed a losing mentality.
Once this happens it is extremely difficult to get rid of it.