Celtic duo Kristoffer Ajer and Mohamed Elyounoussi have both been deemed as not being close contacts of positive-testing Norway team-mate Omar Elabdellaoui, according to the Daily Record.
The Norwegian defender tested positive last week in what’s been a week of absolute chaos for the Norwegian men’s team. Both of their games against Israel and Romania had to be cancelled after government intervention, whilst their clash with Austria will see a new group of players take part.
The Scottish Sun reported yesterday that, despite Ajer and Elyounoussi travelling back to Scotland with the promise of quarantining, Celtic remain confident that the SFA/SPFL’s Joint Response Group will allow both to play against Hibs on Saturday.
And the Record has provided another positive update on the saga. They state that both of Celtic’s Norwegian stars have not been deemed as close contacts of Elabdellaoui.
Ryan Christie was last month labelled a close contact of positive-testing Stuart Armstrong. That led to him having to self-isolate for 14 days. Had the same been said of both Ajer and Elyounoussi, then they also would’ve had to quarantine in Scotland.
It’s all looking better for Celtic
If Ajer and Elyounoussi are indeed allowed to play this weekend then it will be massive for the Hoops.
More importantly, it will mean that we’ve still yet to suffer any real casualties when it comes to Covid this time around during the international break. Despite having players playing in a host of international camps, not one has had to self isolate as things stand.
It’s a massive improvement on last month, when Christie, Odsonne Edouard, Hatem Elhamed, and Nir Bitton all had to quarantine after the break. It was that saga that led to Celtic’s form taking a massive nose-dive.
That’s something that doesn’t look like happening again as the international break draws to a close. The likes of Shane Duffy, Christie, Callum McGregor, Leigh Griffiths, and Vasilis Barkas only have one more game to play before they need to come home. We’re getting there.
And Celtic will need as strong a line-up as possible as they look to build on their massive 4-1 win at Fir Park against Motherwell two weeks ago. Three points in Leith is essential, and only a strong Celtic starting XI will be capable of getting the job done.
Slowly but surely, it looks like we’re on course to have that available to us.
In other news, Craig Levein has weighed in on the Leigh Griffiths/Scotland debate.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
