Celtic boss Neil Lennon is hopeful that Hatem Elhamed can play a part in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final after recovering from Covid-19. Lennon made the comments whilst appearing on Celtic’s YouTube channel in a press conference ahead of the Europa League game against Lille.
“Elhamed, he seems to have recovered quite well, hopefully he’ll be available at the weekend” the Hoops boss said, as quoted by Celtic’s YouTube channel.
Didn’t travel to France
The Hoops boss also confirmed that unlike other Covid-19 victims Nir Bitton and Odsonne Edouard, Elhamed did not make the trip to France for the Lille tie.
The news that Elhamed is on his way back can only be good for Celtic. He has been missed, as he is able to perform well at both centre-back and right-back. Indeed, had he not been diagnosed with Covid-19, he could have been in the starting line-up for the recent games against Milan, Rangers and Aberdeen.
There could be a real upturn in Celtic’s performances now that the likes of Bitton, Edouard and Elhamed are returning. That is what Neil Lennon will be hoping. It shouldn’t be forgotten about that some of Celtic’s indifferent performances have come with so many players out injured. Hopefully that will change now that players are coming back.
Has incredible domestic record
There is of course another reason to hope that Elhamed returns sooner rather than later to the Hoops side. As revealed recently by 67HH he is Celtic’s lucky charm! The Hoops have never lost a domestic game that he has featured in. He has played in 14 in total, with 13 wins and a draw.
If that recent enough to get Elhamed back into the team then nothing is. It is probably too soon for Elhamed to play an entire game. However, it could make a difference even if he plays only for 30 minutes at Hampden Park.
The Covid-19 issues which were affecting Celtic thankfully look to be coming to an end. Now the Hoops can concentrate on getting back to winning ways, in Europe and domestically.
In other news, Neil Lennon had a private talk with Shane Duffy about his performances.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
