The Celtic supporters were left in a state of relief last night after the club confirmed that both Kristoffer Ajer and Mohamed Elyounoussi would be available to face Hibernian on Saturday.
It’s been an absolute nightmare of a week for the Hoops duo who initially went away with Norway on international duty prepared to fire their nation to Nations League success.
Instead, they came back to Scotland earlier this week having not played a single minute of football. This came after one of their players, Omar Elabdellaoui, picked up Covid-19 after training with the squad.
This led to their games against Israel and Romania being cancelled respectively. Norwegian outlet VG then reported that Norway stars who play abroad had been ordered to return home to self-isolate.
That, of course, led to fears that both Ajer and Elyounoussi couldn’t feature against Hibs this weekend in Leith. A win in that one is absolutely crucial to Celtic’s 10-in-a-row hopes as we look to build on our 4-1 win at Fir Park a fortnight ago.
It didn’t make any sense initially as to why both men would’ve had to sit out. Norwegian law shouldn’t have any effect on what happens in Scotland. As soon as players touch down in this country, they should all be subject to the Scottish Government’s guidelines and nobody elses.
So it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that both men are now free to play. Given they’ve continued to test negative and reportedly weren’t close contacts of Elabdellaoui (Daily Record), it’s only common sense that they be allowed to face Hibs.
As for Neil Lennon, this is just a major boost for him at a time in which he needs it. The ruling means that the Hoops have yet to suffer any Covid-related setbacks as many nations get set to play their final game of the international break.
Hopefully, all goes well in the coming days and we can complete a smooth transition back over to domestic matters.
Here’s a look at some of the fan reaction to Celtic’s morale-boosting statement last night:
https://twitter.com/JMax4321/status/1328834051059429378
https://twitter.com/krys1888/status/1328834295990001665
https://twitter.com/Plac1dCasual/status/1328834645392240640
In other news, a Celtic starlet was visibly gutted after a disastrous night for his international side.
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