Celtic boss looks set to receive terrific international boost tonight

By David Walton

November 16, 2021

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou looks set to be in for a major squad boost tonight as the international break comes to a close.

The Hoops have had as many as 7 different first-team players head off to join up with their countries.

Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, and Anthony Ralston were all on duty with Scotland. Kyogo Furuhashi headed off with Japan, with Josip Juranovic taking flight with Croatia. Liel Abada and Nir Bitton, meanwhile, joined up with the Israel squad.

As of tonight, all of the players mentioned above have now finalised their international duty as they prepare to head back to Glasgow. And not one of them appear to have picked up any injury knocks during their time away.

Callum McGregor blitzed through Scotland’s double-header and ended the game against Denmark last night. Anthony Ralston only played a cameo role whilst David Turnbull was on the bench as he remained fit.

Nir Bitton played a big role for Israel with Liel Abada bagging only 9 minutes of action. Again, both seemed to come through their games without any concerns.

Kyogo came on for the final half-hour or so against Oman tonight without issue, whilst Josip Juranovic was a stalwart for Croatia as he qualified for the World Cup and comes back to Glasgow a delighted man.

Celtic appear to have no major injury concerns after internationals

Of course, it could be the case that a player is carrying something we don’t know about. For example, any of those mentioned above could report back to Lennoxtown carrying a niggle. We’ll also keep an eye on Scotland U21s tonight with both Stephen Welsh and Adam Montgomery involved. So long as things go smoothly there, it’ll be a perfect fortnight for the club on the injury front.

Just like last month, it looks as if Postecoglou is going to be given a major squad boost as they arrive back fit and raring to go.

Celtic found out just how big a boost that provided them with over the course of October and early November too. The Bhoys managed to win 6 of the 7 games that separated both breaks. It led to us narrowing the gap on Rangers at the top of the Premiership to 4 points and it reinvigorated our Europa League challenge too.

So we can’t take this squad boost for granted. Being able to play the vast majority of our first-choice XI on Saturday is exactly what Postecoglou will have been praying for.

It’s even more crucial that they’re fit after this break too given the hectic period we have ahead. Celtic have as many as 11 fixtures to negotiate between now and the end of 2021. It’s a helluva run for the squad, and rotation is going to be key.

It all starts with St Johnstone in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final on Saturday. Here’s hoping no late niggles are reported in the build-up.

In other news, Why Celtic can forget the Bayer Leverkusen favour we were all hoping for