Celtic boss Neil Lennon’s one-line update on Vakoun Bayo

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon has provided supporters with a positive update on Vakoun Bayo’s fitness.

The Ivorian hasn’t been seen since coming on for a brief 20-minute spell in the 4-o routing of Aberdeen at the end of October.

Lennon would tell us all just days after that fixture that the striker could be out for up to six weeks (STV). So far, Bayo has been out for over four as our striking options have been limited.

Fortunately, Lenny gave a positive one-liner on how the big man is doing. The Celtic boss was talking up his options in the Scottish Sun, and this is what he had to say:

“Well, we’ve got Griffiths there and hopefully he won’t be a million miles away. Again, we’re softly-softly with him at the minute.

“Bayo is not a million miles away from returning to training. But, yeah, it’s something we’ll look at in January. It’s an area we may need to bolster, but we’ll see.”

Bayo has some work to do upon returning

Going by his original timeframe, Bayo should hopefully be back just before the middle of the month. For Lennon, that would be yet another boost to his striking options.

However, in his absence, other rivals have been getting some game-time. Odsonne Edouard remains far and away the top striker at the club, whilst Leigh Griffiths has been getting some minutes under his belt over the last week or so.

In addition to that, Bayo now potentially has Lewis Morgan to contend with. He led the line responsibly against Rennes on Thursday night and even bagged his second goal for the club. All of a sudden, Bayo has some big competition on his hands when he returns.

He’ll seriously need to improve on his record of just one goal in 11 games (Transfermarkt). You can argue whether he’s had a sufficient amount of starts over his Celtic career in order to make an impact. However, there’s no denying we all would’ve hoped for more from him over his first 12 months at the club.

Yet his return does give Lennon the kind of option he doesn’t have. Bayo is an out-and-out target man, and certainly has his uses. At 22, it’s also important to remember just how young he is.

So here’s hoping we see Bayo back on the pitch soon as Lennon’s striking options continue to get better and better.