Celtic’s win against Sturm Graz was a much-needed positive.
After a desperately poor defeat against Dundee which saw Brendan Rodgers compare the side to a Honda Civic, the performance was much better.
Tomi Horvat opened the scoring with a stunning hit after just 15 minutes, and it felt like groundhog day at Celtic Park.
But Celtic kept creating chances, and a quickfire double from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren turned the game around for a much-deserved victory.
The biggest negative from the game was two injuries in the first half, to Kelechi Iheanacho and Alistair Johnston – Rodgers has given an update on them after the game.
Brendan Rodgers on Alistair Johnston and Kelechi Iheanacho
The game had barely gotten underway when Iheanacho went down without having touched the ball. He was replaced by Johnny Kenny.
Johnston was replaced on 25 minutes after what looked like a recurrence of his hamstring injury.
READ MORE: Five things we learned as Celtic come from behind for first Europa League win against Sturm Graz
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Rodgers gave updates on the injured pair and praised those who replaced them.
He said: “Well, our problem was, in the second half, that we could only make one substitution.
“Obviously Cam [Carter-Vickers] was struggling towards the end, but we couldn’t get him off because we had already made the subs, you only have three moments to make the subs in the game.
“The first two [Iheanacho and Johnston]? It doesn’t look great. It looks like hamstrings. But okay, that’s what happens.
“I thought the guys that came in – I thought Colby, for a young guy coming in, I thought he grew in the game, got better and was more secure as the game went on – he wants go forward, which is what we want.
“And Johnny [Kenny] came in and ran his heart out, threatened in behind and pressed the game. A couple of wee moments in the box where he nearly got on the end of it.
“So the guys came in and stood up to it really well.”
Who will play for Celtic against Hearts?
The injuries are particularly worrying given that the Hoops have a top-of-the-table clash with Hearts coming up on Sunday.
With a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers coming up the week after, Rodgers needs his best players available.
Given the performances of Donovan and Kenny and Rodgers’ comments on them, it seems like they will be trusted to start if needed.
But Anthony Ralston and Shin Yamada will also be desperate to start, so it won’t be a straightforward decision.
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