Celtic centre-back Christopher Jullien continued his recovery work at Lennoxtown as he took part in a bounce game, the Scottish Sun reports.
Jullien has been out of action since December 2020 due to a horrific knee injury picked up in a game against Dundee United. The Frenchman has had the year from hell since as delayed returns have set him back. However, he finally appears to be on the mend.
The former Toulouse man has been seen in recent Celtic training clips as he continues his work in full training sessions. And today, the Sun reports that he featured in a 1-0 bounce win over St Mirren.
The report states that young Owen Moffatt nabbed the winner, with Celtic’s new Japanese trio also involved in the contest. Joe Hart, Josip Juranovic, Carl Starfelt, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Callum McGregor, and James Forrest were also given a runout.
It comes as Celtic step up preparations for the return of the competitive action. The Hoops face Hibernian on January 17th in what will be our first game in 3 weeks.
Sitting 6 points behind Rangers in the title-race, Ange Postecoglou’s men will need to go on a sustained winning run as they look to pile on the pressure.
Christopher Jullien closing in on a return as excitement builds
It’s great to have Jullien back as an option once more. As he closes in on a return to action, just having him back available for selection in the coming weeks is going to be a major personnel boost for Ange.
And when you look at the Celtic centre-back situation, it’s looking a lot stronger. When Jullien is deemed fit and available, he’ll join Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, and Stephen Welsh as our 4 main options. Not to mention Nir Bitton has also proven to be capable in the position.
Finally, we’re close to having the required level of depth needed in that position for a title-winning squad. No excuses now as we look to go full steam ahead with a settled backline.
Also extremely pleasing to see young Moffat get his name on the scoresheet today. The more he’s exposed to first-team training, the greater it will be for his development. It says a lot that Ange continues to have him in there, and the fact he was given a run out today is yet another sign of that faith.
The match also appears to indicate that there are no injury niggles concerning our new Japanese trio. That’s another morale-booster for us heading into Monday night. The squad really is starting to take a beautiful shape to it.
Hopefully, we step things up with a dominant, statement-laying performance against the Easter Road side next week.
In other news, Report: Johnny Kenny arrives at Celtic with an injury; will be out for several weeks
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