Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is set to step up his return from injury over the next week after it was reported he resumed “full training” at Lennoxtown over the weekend.
Carter-Vickers has been out of action since the aftermath of last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Rangers. The United States international underwent scheduled surgery to fix an ongoing knee problem and has been rehabilitating ever since.
After suggestions last week he had returned to individual work on the training pitch, it seems the centre-back’s recovery is going well and that the goal will now be building up to full match fitness.
The Daily Record has reported that both he and Anthony Ralston were put through their paces in “full training” at Lennoxtown over the last few days while their teammates were on tour in Japan.
The pair are now due to join in with the group at the training centre when they return early this week, ahead of the trip to Dublin to play Wolverhampton Wanderers next weekend.
Celtic will obviously be careful with both players and manage their fitness before throwing them into match action but it’s fair to say both will be needed in the early stages of the season, so the sooner they are back the better.
Alistair Johnston is out for a longer period so Ralston is needed at right-back quickly, where midfielder Tomoki Iwata has been filling in during pre-season.
Carter-Vickers is also a significant upgrade on Yuki Kobayashi and Stephen Welsh, who have been partnering Carl Starfelt of late.
Celtic are also closing in on the signing of Maik Nawrocki from Legia Warsaw in the central defensive position, so that area of the pitch is looking strong heading into the new campaign.
In other news, Kyogo shoulder injury explained; overblown Celtic headlines.
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