Celtic’s Europa League match against Sturm Graz felt like a must-win.
So on that front, Brendan Rodgers’ side did the job. But at what cost? Three first-team starters, it seems.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers all picked up injuries in the 2-1 win. The latter will miss between three and five months with an achilles issue.
With a top-of-the-table clash against Hearts and a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers coming up, it’s far from ideal timing for the injury list to be growing.
And Hoops hero Frank McAvennie was left baffled by the muscle issues coming up throughout the Celtic squad – he discussed this on the radio on Saturday.
Frank McAvennie on Celtic’s fitness ahead of Hearts clash
The game had barely got underway when Iheanacho went down under no contact – he hadn’t yet touched the ball when he was withdrawn for Johnny Kenny.
For Johnston, who was making his return from injury on the night, the injury was much more clear, and worrying.
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Two injuries in one game was worrying enough, but a third being raised afterwards is enough to raise genuine concern.
For McAvennie, speaking on TalkSPORT, the injuries raised questions about the Celtic fitness coaches.
He said: “The other night, I thought they played well in parts. They could’ve scored eight. They missed so many blatant chances.
“The boy Nygren, oh my god. The headers… and the relief on his face when he did score, it was nice to see because he knew he’d missed an awful lot of chances. If we didn’t win, he would’ve blamed himself.
“We could’ve easily scored seven or eight goals, because things were a bit quicker.
“But everyone’s been going off with hamstring problems, and I’m thinking ‘what’s the fitness coaches doing?’
“So many people, and I seen Hatate stretching his hamstrings, and I’m thinking ‘really? This is during the game!’
“But over the last couple of weeks, it’s been slower than I could’ve played.”
Celtic’s fitness staff and medical department
Tim Williamson, the club’s head physio, will be a familiar name to Celtic supporters. He has been at the Hoops for over 15 years. But who else works for the fitness and medical departments at Lennoxtown?
William Currie is the club’s head of sports science. Previously at Rangers, he initially joined the department under Jack Nayler in 2016, when Rodgers was appointed.
John Currie had worked as the club’s main coach until he was picked up by Charlotte FC in MLS. It isn’t clear who replaced him.
It may be Andy Boles, who is still at the club and previously worked with the Hoops’ B team.
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