Jesse Marsch has revealed that Alistair Johnston is to make his Celtic return the “coming weeks”.
Johnston has been named in Marsch’s Canada squad for friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia in the next fortnight.
However, the Celtic defender won’t feature in either of the games as he continues his recovery from a hamstring tear sustained last year.
He is merely there to check back in with his international staff and teammates, as Marsch has explained.
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Asked about Johnston and another injured player called up, Moise Bombito, Marsch said: “Neither will feature in any of the friendlies this month.
“They’ll train with the team and be around the group, with the hope being that they’ll return to action for their clubs in the coming weeks.
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“Moise and Alistair are two that, for a long time, we have committed to having them come in and then having them be around the team.
“Which I think more than anything, was important mentally for them, but also for them to get up to speed after they’ve missed a lot of windows, so they will be coming.”
Johnston initially sustained the injury in the first leg of Celtic’s Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty in August.
He missed two months before a disastrous attempt at returning against Sturm Graz in the Europa League, when he was forced off again after just 23 minutes.
This led to surgery in November, ruling the defender out for all of the past four months. In recent weeks, he has returned to individual training at Lennoxtown.
He has described the spell as the most challenging of his career.
The form of Julian Araujo has softened the blow of Johnston’s long-term absence for Celtic, but from an international perspective, he will be desperate to ensure his involvement in a home World Cup for Canada this summer.
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Celtic’s season of injuries
In the same game as Johnston’s relapse, Cameron Carter-Vickers suffered a serious Achilles injury which has ruled him out for the rest of the season, as well as his own home World Cup with the USA.
Callum Osmand’s Celtic rise was abruptly ended by his own long-term injury which has threatened to keep him out for the rest of the campaign.
Jota, who hasn’t been seen since a knee injury last May, is also not expected to be seen before the end of the season after a lengthy period of rehab.
Marcelo Saracchi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Arne Engels have all had their own issues at various points.
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