Cluj forward Billel Omrani admits that he has recently had to put up with “some pain” but says he is “fit and ready to play” against Celtic this Thursday night.
The 26-year-old was brought on a substitute for the Romanians at the weekend before being hauled off 17 minutes later with a knock. Omrani also missed the recent cup defeat to Botosani but he has still kept his scoring record up – netting three goals in his last four matches.
And as he prepares to return to Celtic Park, where he netted a brace in August, he says he’s raring to add to his tally.
“I am fit and ready to play,” he told the Scottish Sun. “I had some pain recently but I am fine now.
“I want to score in every game I play in so of course I want to score here again.
“We will work hard for the victory. We work a lot in training and we play every single game to win. We will see what happens.”
Omrani will have to be well marshalled at Celtic Park
While the headlines may be dominated by Omrani’s fitness declaration, his admission that he wasn’t perfect may be a helping hand to the Celtic defence.
Given that he’s played just 17 minutes during the last two matches combined, the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien may be tempted to leave a boot in on the Frenchman in the early stages of Thursday’s clash.
Omrani was a handful for the Celtic defence in our August tie but he didn’t ever look like a top European marksman. Thankfully, Neil Lennon can call upon a more matured defence nowadays. The likes of Boli Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien didn’t even feature the last time Cluj visited Glasgow but both are likely to be starters this Thursday.
Fraser Forster is an upgrade on Scott Bain who played the August clash while Hatem Abd Elhamed has grown further into a Celtic shirt since.
Keeping Omrani quiet will be a challenge but it’s one the new Hoops defence will probably have to master if we’re to get an important three points.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
