Mikael Lustig’s injury update doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence about his fitness.
The Hoops right-back picked up a knock at Aberdeen, and appeared to tweak his hamstring. He ended up coming off late on as Celtic cruised to eight-in-a-row with a 3-0 success.
Despite the injury, Lustig didn’t appear to care much during the post-match celebrations. He was joining in and jumping up and down along with the rest of the squad. Whether that’s a good sign or not remains to be seen.
But speaking to Celtic TV post-match, Lustig didn’t look certain that he would make Rangers next Sunday. Providing the update on the Pittodrie touchline, this is what he had to say:
“Hopefully it’s all right. But we’ve got big games coming up. I’m going to have a check on it on Monday.”
Lustig didn’t seem comfortable
It’s not so much what Lustig said about his injury, but more how he says it. His facial expressions didn’t show a player confident that his knock was just a tweak. At the very least it’s a worry ahead of some big games coming up.
Next weekend will see the Hoops head to Ibrox in a huge contest against Steven Gerrard’s side. Three points would be a massive statement heading into next season, and we could use Lustig down the right.
That’s because Jeremy Toljan, who would surely be his replacement, hasn’t featured since a cameo appearance in the 2-1 win over Rangers back in March. In fact, Toljan has only played five times since Neil Lennon came in the door back in late-February.
Outside of that, Lennon doesn’t have an alternative to Lustig at the moment. Anthony Ralston has been plying his trade with the reserves over the last few weeks. Choosing him to be tossed in at Ibrox would be a huge ask.
Lustig does have a full week to prepare, but he certainly doesn’t look very certain on how it could turn out. Hopefully, we all know for sure tomorrow what’s happening with him, as he’ll be a big miss for Ibrox should he miss out.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
