Celtic fans were left wondering about Jota’s long‑term injury situation after months of silence, but interim manager Martin O’Neill has now provided clarity, revealing that the winger has suffered a minor setback in his recovery and will undergo keyhole surgery to tidy things up.

He gave more details of his setback to the newspapers after the gaffer revealed in his broadcast press conference that it’s unlikely that Jota will play this season.

Jota hasn’t featured this season after suffering a serious ACL injury against Dundee United at Tannadice last term. Expectations had previously been that he might return around January or February, but those hopes faded as the midfielder continued his rehabilitation.

O’Neill made it clear that the setback isn’t catastrophic, but it is significant enough to require a small procedure: [RecordSport]

“There’s been a minor setback for him. But it’s something that during the course of your treatment… I think it would be a bit of a meniscus thing, or something, I guess here.

“He hasn’t had a major setback, let me put it this way. But it’s taking longer than one would have imagined.

“Brendan [Rodgers] thought it was going to be January, February. That could have been at the time. That could have been the prognosis. But the little setback that he’s had is not preventing extra things. It’s just something that you can clear up with one of those keyhole surgery things.

“It’s a tidy up, absolutely. It’s not major. I was speaking to him the other day. He’s fine. He’s always smiling.”

While fans may have feared the worst given the long absence, O’Neill seems reassuring. The procedure is expected to be a brief and routine fix, rather than a return to a long rehabilitation process.

That said, the update confirms that Jota’s return this season now looks highly unlikely. After a lengthy spell on the sidelines, even a minor hiccup in recovery is enough to delay his comeback until the latter stages of the campaign, if not beyond. And we don’t want to rush him back either.

From Celtic’s perspective, that’s frustrating at a time when creativity and dynamic attacking options are needed most.

Jota’s return would have been a welcome boost amid a campaign that has seen the Hoops struggle to find cutting edge at times.

For Jota himself, the focus will now be on getting the operation done swiftly and returning to fitness with minimal disruption.