Celtic winger Jota was not taken off at half-time today due to an injury, merely to rest him ahead of some big matches down the line.
Ange Postecoglou confirmed the situation in his post-match press conference, stating [Celtic Way]: “There was a bit of fatigue there, and we were never going to give him too many minutes.
“Again, he has been carrying a heavy load with a few games in the stretch and we thought we would take him off at half-time.”
Meanwhile, the manager confirmed in his pre-match interview on BBC Radio Scotland that Moritz Jenz had picked up an illness and that he was hoping the German defender would be available for Tuesday night’s match against RB Leipzig.
Clearly, that will be a situation to monitor, although the absence has been made less severe after Cameron Carter-Vickers’ welcome comeback from injury today.
Postecoglou seems to have chosen the St Johnstone match as one to carefully manage the minutes of his performers with key players such as Greg Taylor and Kyogo Furuhashi also left out, while Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley were both subbed off before the game was won.
This will hopefully pay dividends against the Germans and further down the line, with matches against Hearts and Motherwell away on the horizon.
In any case, it seems the squad have come through the trip to Perth without any further injury issues or concerns, which is a bonus after Callum McGregor picked up a knee injury in Germany that will keep him out until after the World Cup break.
In other news, “I don’t want to play the big guy now but…”; Giorgos Giakoumakis’ class post-match Celtic interview.
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