Celtic manager Neil Lennon has delivered a fitness update on defender Hatem Abd Elhamed from the club’s winter training base in Dubai, The Scottish Sun report.
The Israeli international has been out of action for over two months after sustaining a groin injury during our magnificent win away to Lazio in the Europa League.
However, having returned to full training during the winter break, the hope was that he was closing in a return ahead of a busy schedule in the second half of the season.
However, it now appears he is set to miss another few weeks of action.
The manager has called for patience but has admitted it’s a blow.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “Elhamed still has a bit of a groin problem. It’s not long term, but it could be a few weeks. He sort of jolted his groin and got a reaction.
“It’s actually not the same injury, it’s lower down and will maybe mean a couple of weeks.
“He’s been brilliant for me and it’s a bit of a blow, but there’s nothing I can do about it. We have to be patient with it.”
Poor reputation growing
Although he is clearly suffering problems through no fault of his own, Elhamed is gaining the reputation of being something of a sicknote since his move to Celtic last summer.
He’s played an important part in Europe but he hasn’t actually featured in a Scottish Premiership match since way back in September.
The emergence of Jeremie Frimpong has played a part in that, but it doesn’t feel like the more experienced right-back is coping very well with the demands of our schedule.
Our upcoming fixtures are all so vitally important and Lennon needs as many options available to him as possible to keep the team fresh and firing on all cylinders.
I’ve been impressed by what Elhamed has had to offer when he’s on the pitch, but we need to figure out these injuries and get him back playing regularly, otherwise, his Celtic career is never going to take off.
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