Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Jota will not be available for the match between Celtic and Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership tomorrow.
The winger came off at half-time against St Johnstone last week and, despite an initial playing down of the issue, has now missed matches against RB Leipzig and Hibs.
However, there is hope he will return to training soon. Meanwhile, Postecoglou confirmed two others will be missing for the Celtic Park clash on Saturday.
Speaking in a press conference today, he said [Sky Sports]: “Jota’s not available again. We’ve just got to be a bit conservative with him and we expect him to be back in training next week at some point. David Turnbull picked up a bit of a knock on his ankle so he’s out. Welsh also picked up a knock in training.”
This is obviously a blow for the Hibs match, but it sounds like all three won’t be absent for too long.
Moritz Jenz and Cameron Carter-Vickers are thankfully holding things down in defence while there are plenty of options in the middle of the park. In the wing areas, options include Sead Haksabanovic, who could move from a central area, while Alexandro Bernabei was also utilised off the bench in a left-wing role mid-week.
Ultimately, we should have the personnel required to see off the threat of Lee Johnson’s side, who come into this one off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Dundee United on Tuesday night.
We really need Celtic to produce a confident display and pick up a strong result, especially as a win could have the added effect of piling pressure on to our rivals, who play on Sunday.
If we can maintain good domestic form until the World Cup break, we’ll be in great shape for the rest of the season.
In other news, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou comes out firing against Scottish media’s ‘boom-bust cycle’.
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