Celtic have been handed a potentially huge boost ahead of their critical Champions League stand-off with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, after the Ukrainian side confirmed that three key players are doubts for the match.
The thrio, who all took part in the 1-1 draw in Warsaw in September, includes former Celtic flop Maryan Shved, who left the club after only making three appearances, despite scoring a wonderful goal in a Champions League qualifier win over Nomme Kalju.
Midfielder Oleg Ocheretko and right-back Yukhym Konoplya are the other two players who are doubts for the Paradise clash, with only Konoplya playing Shakhtar’s last game against Kolos Kovalivka, though the defender was taken off at half-time.
As confirmed on Shakhtar’s website, the three players trained away from the main squad yesterday, as Shakhtar took advantage of their free weekend to conduct one of two training sessions at their camp in Vynnyky before travelling to Glasgow today.
Shved, who scored a double on Champions League Matchday 1 in a famous 4-1 win away over RB Leipzig, has missed Shakhtar’s last three games and hasn’t played since the 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on Matchday 3, when he was taken off after an hour.
Konoplya has been ever-present in Shakhtar’s Group F campaign, though Ocheretko hasn’t played since the 1-1 draw with Celtic, remaining on the bench for the double-header against Real Madrid and missing Shakhtar’s last two league games altogether.
Both sides potentially carrying key injuries ahead of crucial game
If Shakhtar’s injury worries are to be confirmed, it would even the odds slightly for Tuesday’s game, given that at least three of Celtic’s first-choice starting eleven also look likely to miss out.
Callum McGregor’s injury against Leipzig on Matchday 3 has ruled the captain out until the World Cup, and Carl Starfelt’s return window is yet to be confirmed. Ange Postecoglou was coy about both Jota and David Turnbull’s fitness before the Hibs game, with the Portuguese expected to return to training at some stage in the coming days.
Celtic have managed to handle their injuries in recent weeks, with the home defeat to Leipzig last time out in the competition their only negative result since the September international break.
Given that Shakhtar’s players visibly tired in the away leg, leading to a flurry of late Celtic chances, a depleted squad should hand the impotence to Ange Postecoglou’s side to find the three points they need to keep their European season alive.
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