Every Celtic player is back in the building, barring Auston Trusty.
Kieran Tierney and Sebastian Tounekti competed at this summer’s World Cup, and they featured for the first time in pre-season on Saturday when Celtic drew with AC Milan.
Both players got an hour under their belts, but Martin O’Neill confirmed that Benjamin Nygren was missing because of an injury, while Hyunjun Yang and Alistair Johnston also had some issues.
Trusty, after helping the United States of America reach the knockout stages of the World Cup, has been given extra time off because of family reasons, as O’Neill explained all in his post-match press conference.
Which Celtic player stood out at the World Cup? 🌍 🍀
No Celtic players remain… 😬
Everything Celtic fans need to know about Auston Trusty, Benjamin Nygren, Alistair Johnston and Hyunjun Yang
According to O’Neill, Trusty will return for pre-season on Monday – one week before the opening Premiership match of the season against Dundee.
The Celtic boss explained that the American’s extra time off is ‘deserved.’
“Trusty comes back on Monday; he has had some family things,” said O’Neill. “I have given him a little bit of extra time, which I think he has deserved.”
Nygren also featured at the World Cup, playing for Sweden, who also reached the knockout stages before they were dismantled by France in the round of 32.
O’Neill explained that Celtic’s top-scorer from the 2025/26 season has an ‘achilles problem’, but he made it clear that it isn’t too much of an issue.
“Nygren is here at this minute,” added O’Neill. “He has a bit of an achilles problem. I am probably less concerned about those boys because they have played matches at the World Cup.
“Okay, so you take a little bit of a break. The last thing you want to do is rush them back. Kieran plays for what, 60 minutes against AC Milan?
“By Monday, I think everyone will be back – I don’t think so (Nygren’s injury being an issue). I think he was okay. He played for Sweden at least for one of the games at the World Cup, so I don’t think it’s massive.”
As many saw last season, Johnston had many injury issues, and it seems as though Celtic are being extra careful with him.
Once again, O’Neill was hoping that Johnston would have played ’20 minutes’ against Milan, but he has been ‘guided by sports science’ to do otherwise.
But it’s not much to worry about, including with Yang, who will be ‘ready to go’, according to O’Neill, ahead of Celtic’s Premiership opener against Dundee on August 3.
“Alistair, I was hoping that Alistair might have played maybe 20 minutes against Milan,” stated O’Neill. “He was ready for it. I have to be guided by our sports science guys. I like them, but not a lot.
“Yeah, so I have to be guided. If anything happened to him, then I think I would get it in the neck from the sports science boys.
“Yang is back. He has done some training. A little bit of a hiccup there a couple of days ago, but he will be fine. He will be ready to go.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
