Neil Lennon’s injury update to the Celtic support last night proved that three stars are close to a first-team return.
Celtic overcame Sarajevo 2-1 at Celtic Park to round off a 5-2 aggregate win against the Bosnians. Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor were on target for the Celts, who struggled at times to keep the visitors quiet.
Of course, they also did so without three of their first-team players too. Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Mikey Johnston, and Marian Shved all missed out due to injury.
Fortunately, however, Lennon has a date when he’s hoping to get them all back. Speaking to the Scottish Sun, the Hoops boss provided supporters with a fresh update on the trio.
“We should have Mikey back for the second leg (against Nomme Kalju) hopefully as well as maybe Shved and Bayo.”
Lennon’s injury update proves stars are on their way back
It’s great to see that our injured trio are close to a return to fitness. With the season underway in just over two weeks, we could do with having as many of our quality stars in and around the squad as possible.
Johnston’s knock in Sarajevo last week has been a frustrating momentum halter for the winger. He’ll have competition for his place when he returns in Lewis Morgan, who put in another fine showing in green and white last night.
Bayo’s injury picked up nearly three weeks ago was just as frustrating. The length of time it’s taken the big striker to get up to speed has been a blow to him. It came at a particularly cruel period for him too after he had scored the winner against Wiener Sportclub in only our second pre-season friendly.
Shved’s injury was just as annoying as he was starting to get some minutes down the right. He looked as though he was getting up to speed nicely, but with a bit of luck, all three will be ready for the new domestic season at the very latest.
The second leg with Nomme Kalju takes place on July 30th. So at some point in the next 12 days, Lenny will hopefully be confirming all three players have returned.
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