Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer is in a race against time to be fit for the Europa League clash against Rennes, following a recent injury.
The Norwegian hobbled off after 14 minutes against Swedish champions AIK and missed Sunday’s derby victory over Rangers as a result. He has now pulled out of the Norway squad for their forthcoming international double header and will instead work on his fitness ahead of a busy period for Celtic.
“I’ve been told I have to rest for two weeks,” Ajer said. (Scottish Sun)
Celtic’s first game after the international break is away to Hamilton Accies on September 14th before we travel to Rennes for our Group E opener.
Ajer injury isn’t as big a deal as it could have been
Obviously, it would be great if Ajer was back and fit in time for the game against the Ligue 1 high-flyers. However, Neil Lennon and the Celtic support may feel less likely to force him to play if he’s not 100%, after seeing Sunday’s derby victory.
The makeshift Celtic defence were excellent at Ibrox at the weekend. Christopher Jullien looked every bit the £7million player we hoped we’d signed as he marshalled a defence playing together for the first time.
Four of the five members of the Celtic backline that played were new signings but they coped easily with what the Gers had to offer. Rennes will be likely to offer more quality in an attacking sense but we shouldn’t be overly worried if our defence can produce a similar performance.
The whole blueprint for the Ibrox victory is exactly what Lennon will want to see on the road in Europe. We have so much quality in attack that you always fancy us to grab a goal no matter the opposition. If we can keep them out at the other end then we’re on to a winner.
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