One of the most welcome and important sights for Celtic supporters last night undoubtedly came off the pitch in the form of Callum McGregor’s attendance at Tynecastle.
Ange Postecoglou has continued to tell supporters that the player has a significant injury and that he’ll be given as much recovery time as he needs [Sky Sports]. It comes after he picked up a bad-looking facial knock against Alloa Athletic at the weekend.
It’s been reported in the media that Callum will likely be undergoing surgery for his injury [Scottish Daily Mail, print edition, back page]. However, that’s yet to happen it seems as CalMac took in last night’s feisty encounter in Edinburgh.
Callum’s face certainly looked like it had taken a sore one. However, perhaps promisingly, it had already appeared to yellow with some of the swelling going down. What this means for his recovery remains to be seen.
We are obviously not doctors at 67HailHail, but the fact McGregor hasn’t had surgery as of yet is an interesting takeaway from this. It would likely already have been done by now if it was on the cards.
And having him back at Tynecastle shows that Callum still feels fit enough to be out and about. That has to be taken as a major positive.
Callum McGregor looked in a sore state yesterday, but Celtic recovery looks to have already started
You couldn’t help but notice just how painful Callum’s injury looked. Even if the sweeling had gone down and the yellowing had begun, it still looked extremely delicate.
It’s fair to say he won’t be anywhere near close to returning for next week’s Glasgow derby. That’s fine. Callum needs to be given as much time as he needs to recover from such an injury.
It just showed the commitment of the player to be there in Edinburgh last night. It would’ve been easy for McGregor to rest at home and watch the game via Sky Sports or Celtic TV. Instead, he chose to make the trip with his teammates and support them from the sides.
There’s no denying how positive it is to see him in amongst things so soon after his injury. It certainly suggests that some progress is being made and that it maybe isn’t as bad as is first feared.
That would be the hope. Ange is clearly not putting any timescales on things and is instead ready for the injury to heal naturally. Surgery, however, could be up for debate at this tage.
In the meantime, Celtic need to crack on with the midfield options we’ve got. And if last night was anything to go by, Matt O’Riley and Nir Bitton certainly showed they can be a fine combination.
In other news, Matt O’Riley addresses why he had to come off during Hearts vs Celtic
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