Neil Lennon has revealed Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic needs to see a specialist about an injury which has kept him out of recent matches, The Scottish Sun report.
Last week the manager said to BBC Scotland he was hoping that the Croatian would be in contention for Sunday’s game against Rangers, claiming he had simply been rested against AIK, but he was a mystery absentee from the match squad at Ibrox.
Now it appears a knee problem is more serious than initially thought.
Nir Bitton could also be out for a month after being substituted off midway through the second half at Ibrox.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, Lennon explained: “Nir will be three or four weeks, Ajer will be ten days. We are hoping to have him back for Hamilton.
“We will need to send Jozo to a specialist.”
Unfortunate defensive frailty
Just when it looked like Celtic had supreme depth across the defensive line, injuries to three of our go-to centre backs has plunged us back into a bit of a crisis at the back.
The injuries to Simunovic and Bitton are certainly far from ideal heading into the next month.
Part of that schedule sees us play away to Rennes and Hibs, as well as at home to Cluj.
Lennon has previously commented on the importance of Simunovic to his plans. He suggested to The Scottish Sun last month that he’s a key figure in the first-team.
At least it sounds like Kristoffer Ajer will be returning to contention soon.
The big defensive responsibility now looks like it will be on Christopher Jullien’s shoulders over the next period. He was imperious against Rangers and hopefully that’s given him the confidence to find consistency in a Celtic shirt.
With Hatem Abd Elhamed able to slot in at centre-back and Moritz Bauer available, we’ll hopefully not be stretched too much. However, we can’t really afford many more injuries at the back.
Fingers crossed everyone stays fit and healthy while Simunovic and Bitton recover.
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