Celtic in trouble after Vakoun Issouf Bayo news

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Vakoun Issouf Bayo’s career at Celtic has taken yet another blow.

Neil Lennon confirmed post-match last night that the Ivorian could be out for up to six weeks. That’s due to the fact that he could need surgery after picking up a mystery knock. Here’s a look at Lennon’s comments via Celtic’s official Twitter account:

So it looks as though the news on Bayo could be worse than first feared. If the striker does need surgery, it could leave Celtic in real bother in the striking positions.

Bayo wasn’t a part of the matchday squad last night during Celtic’s 2-0 win over St Mirren at Parkhead. It remains to be seen what the nature of his injury actually is.

Neil Lennon now has no first-team alternative

This is a monumental blow if Bayo is out for weeks. At such a crucial time in the season too as we get set for the hectic winter schedule.

Lennon would officially have no alternatives available to Odsonne Edouard. Leigh Griffiths is hoping to be back in training today, but for now, he isn’t available.

There is the option of bringing up Jonathan Afolabi from the development squad. However, the Republic of Ireland youngster is also only just getting set to come back from a knock picked up last month.

This was always the danger with having just Bayo and Edouard up top over the last month or so. If there’s one more injury to Eddy, we can’t play a striker. That’s absolutely criminal stuff.

And fans have every right to know why so many players are picking up consistent injury knocks. Bayo missed the entire final few months of last season due to an injury picked up on international duty. The likes of Tom Rogic, James Forrest, Mikey Johnston, and Leigh Griffiths are just some of the players who struggle consistently with injuries.

It remains to be seen what Lenny does to try and compensate for Bayo’s injury. With a bit of luck, Griff will soon be back to minimise the negative effect of the loss. But at the moment, our striking options are now as thin as they could possibly be.