When Jota will be back available for Celtic selection after return to training

By David Walton

January 13, 2022

Ange Postecoglou has confirmed to Celtic supporters that Jota should be back available for Celtic selection over the next couple of weeks.

The talented Portuguese youngster was pictured back in full training with the Hoops earlier today. This comes after an injury picked up vs Hearts on December 3rd.

Jota went back to Portugal for some treatment and spent some time there at the beginning of the winter break. However, after returning to Glasgow it appears that he’s been getting stuck in ahead of the Premiership’s resumption on January 17th.

And in a brilliant update, Ange admitted he expects the player back at the latest within a couple of weeks. As well as that, Ange is also not ruling out a swift return against Hibs at Parkhead this week.

Speaking via Celtic TV, Postecoglou said: “It’s good to have him back. It’s one of those ones where he was out medium to long-term, but he’s rehabbed really well and joined in full training today.

“We’ll see. He won’t be far off. If it’s not Monday then we expect him over the next couple of weeks to be available. Like I said, he’s rehabbed really well and he feels pretty good.”

Jota gives Celtic a major boost ahead of hectic second half of the campaign

This is brilliant stuff from the manager here. There were concerns that Jota may have had to miss the upcoming Glasgow derby vs Rangers. However, with him back doing full training so soon, it seems that won’t be an issue.

Granted, there are huge games coming up that we need him back for. Celtic travel to Alloa in the Scottish Cup after Monday night’s fixture before games against Hearts (away), Dundee United (home), and then the Glasgow derby at Parkhead.

Jota, if available, would play a massive role in most of those matches. Given he ended 2021 with 8 goals and 6 assists to his name in a Hooped jersey, the love for him is understandable [Transfermarkt].

In the meantime before he is available, what an opportunity that could open up for Daizen Maeda. The high-profile J-League signing often played on the left flank last term for Yokohama Marinos. That could very well be where he starts his Hoops career too if Jota is still being kept back.

It would be ideal to prioritise the Rangers game if we had that luxury. But with Tynecastle bearing down on us, we need him fit and firing for that one too. So don’t expect Ange to play it too safe with the on-loan Benfica star in the coming weeks.

Who knows? Perhaps we’ll even see a shock return on Thursday.

In other news, Chris Sutton rips into Celtic rivals’ MD Stewart Robertson over fan allocation