Hearts could be without key defender Craig Halkett ahead of their trip to Celtic Park to take on Ange Postecoglou’s side this Sunday.
The Edinburgh side were in European action, facing Swiss Champions FC Zurich in the UEFA Europa League play-off round.
Although they suffered disappointment on the night, Hearts are still very much in the tie, with the reverse leg to be played at a packed-out Tynecastle next week.
However, before they attempt to reverse the Zurich tie, Robbie Neilson’s side faces the task of travelling to Celtic Park and taking on Ange Postecoglou’s Hoops team.
Having enjoyed success against the 56-year-old in the opening game of last season, it hasn’t quite gone as well in the next four meetings between the two sides for the Hearts manager.
Neilson suffered a further four defeats at both Celtic Park and Tynecastle, with the meeting at the beginning of May all but securing the Scottish Premiership title in a 4-1 win.
Going into this weekend’s game, the two teams are still unbeaten in the league after three games and will be hoping to continue that run beyond Sunday.
However, Neilson looks set to be without one of his key players in defence after Craig Halkett was forced off through injury just six minutes into the game in Switzerland.
The Hearts boss remained coy on the extent of his knock, stating that medical staff will wait until they return to Scotland before fully assessing it.
However, the defender was seen walking with crutches, and Neilson’s comments didn’t seem to suggest there was much confidence in Halkett making the squad for Sunday.
He said [Sun Sport]: “He got a tweak on his hamstring when he stretched for the ball.
“We’ll fly back tomorrow and get it assessed then and see where we are. It could be five days, it could be five weeks. He’s walking.”
Neilson remains coy, but Halkett looks all but set to miss Celtic Park trip.
Although Robbie Neilson hasn’t revealed the full extent of Craig Halkett’s injury, recovering from a hamstring tweak within a matter of days seems very unlikely.
If does turn out to be a short-term injury, the Jambos are also going to have one eye on next Thursday evening, so you would imagine the Hearts manager is looking towards other defensive options within his squad.
Arguably the worst team possible that Craig Halkett could face whilst still recovering from a hamstring knock is this Celtic side, who have looked at their free-flowing best in the opening few games of the new season.
Neilson could make a few other changes to his starting 11, off the back of a tiring away trip in Europe just three days before coming to Glasgow.
Of course, that is a problem that Celtic squads have had to deal with in the past. But, thankfully, that isn’t an issue the Hoops have had to deal with this campaign.
Ange Postecoglou’s full focus across the last seven days will have gone into Hearts’ visit to Parkhead. Whereas, for the travelling away side, they now have to deal with injury issues and another European tie to come next week.
In other news, Report: Celtic closing in on latest addition as Haksabanovic prepares to undergo medical.
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