Celtic’s defensive duo Filip Benkovic and Kristoffer Ajer could both be fit for Sunday after being snapped in training.
The Hoops had a massive injury list for last night’s match at RB Leipzig. Celtic lost the game 2-0, but also lost Cristian Gamboa and Jozo Simunovic to injury on the night.
It looked as though Celtic may have been in for a defensive crisis this Sunday for the Betfred Cup clash with Hearts. With Dedryck Boyata suspended, it looked as though Jack Hendry was going to have to come in as a replacement.
Injuries to Simunovic and Ajer had fans particularly worried. Benkovic did make the bench in Leipzig, but question marks remained about his fitness after not coming on for Simunovic.
It appears, however, that Celtic have given us all a hint about both Ajer and Benkovic’s availability:
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A huge boost
If one or both are fit, that would be a terrific boost for Celtic ahead of the weekend. The thought of having to move Mikael Lustig into defence alongside Hendry would’ve had fear bursting out of Hoops fans.
Ajer can be seen in one of the images doing an intense running drill, and hopefully this means he could be available for the weekend.
Another interesting snapshot taken by Celtic was that of young Michael Johnston. The academy product has made eight first-team appearances this season, but his last was the 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock. It looks as though he could be back in contention to make the squad on Sunday also.
Brendan Rodgers has had to use nearly all of his squad just to make up the numbers in the last week. The likes of Jonny Hayes and Gamboa returned to the squad in Germany, and many will be hoping the injury news only gets better over the next 48 hours.
Celtic still have Nir Bitton, Scott Brown, and Leigh Griffiths injured for Sunday. Question marks still hover over Youssouf Mulumbu and Tom Rogic also.
Thankfully, it looks as though Benkovic and Ajer could be in the running for the weekend in particular. Rodgers didn’t say either were fit or injured for the weekend in his press conference earlier today. Take from that what you will.