Celtic defender Christopher Jullien could return to training at Lennoxtown during the current international break, assistant manager John Kennedy has told The Celtic View (11/11 print edition, page 6).
Jullien hasn’t played for the club since the 5-0 rout of Ross County in the Highlands back in September.
In recent weeks he’s been abroad to see a specialist in Germany, as well as working with his own personal trainer, in an effort to sort out a back problem.
Thankfully it appears he is now closing in on a return, with Kennedy hopeful of him returning to the training pitch over the next week.
Lennon’s assistant has also provided promising updates on the status of Jeremie Frimpong, Kristoffer Ajer and Mikey Johnston.
As quoted by The Celtic View (11/11 print edition, page 6), Kennedy said: “Kris had an issue against Lille, a minor groin issue. He didn’t reinjure it against Motherwell but he felt as the game was going on it was getting a bit tighter in that area. We didn’t want to take any risks with that so hopefully, he’ll be fine this week.
“Jeremie’s issue was the contact more than anything else. It was a bad tackle but he’ll be okay.
“Mikey’s done a bit of training now. He’s obviously missed a lot of time on the pitch so we’re just building him back up.
“Chris Jullien had a difficult spell there with a back issue but he’s looking in a better place now and we’ll hopefully get him on the pitch at some point during this international break.”
The return of Jullien and Johnston will be a particular boost to the manager’s current options.
Johnston can add depth to the wing areas and has already demonstrated an ability to weigh in with assists and goals during his short career at the club.
Jullien meanwhile gives Lennon the chance to find a consistent defensive pairing after Shane Duffy’s initial poor form.
Slowly but surely our injury and fitness issues are being resolved. It could be huge for our Scottish Premiership fightback.
In other news, Jeremie Frimpong has been doing extra training sessions to work on a key weakness in his game.
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