Aside from Celtic clinching top spot in Europa League Group E after their 3-1 win over Rennes on Thursday, the other biggest talking point from the game was the absence of Odsonne Edouard.
The Celtic striker didn’t play in the game, and Neil Lennon explained after the game that the player had a ‘niggle’.
“He’s got a niggle, and we didn’t want to take any chances with him. We’ll see how he is at the weekend” Lennon said after the game, as quoted by the club’s Twitter account.
Celtic’s next game is a trip to Dingwall to play Ross County on Sunday. Edouard should not be involved in that game unless he is fully fit.
Other options are available
There is no point in playing a half-fir player in case he suffers a recurrence of his injury. Celtic have other options available in attack now anyway.
Leigh Griffiths has come on as a substitute in Celtic’s last two matches. Now could be the time for Griffiths to make his first Celtic start in a long time.
There is even the option of paying Lewis Morgan as the striker if need be. Morgan played well in an unfamiliar role in the in over Rennes.
Priority is to get player fit as soon as possible
The priority for Celtic though will be to make sure that Edouard is fit and available for selection as soon as possible. If that means that he misses the Ross County game then so be it. It is more important to the Hoops that Edouard is fit to play in next Sunday’s Betfred Cup Final against Rangers.
Obviously the club would like to give Edouard some game time ahead of the Hampden showdown. He could still feature in the game against Hamilton on Wednesday night.
If Edouard needs to be left out against Ross County to ensure that he plays in the cup final then that is what Neil Lennon must do.
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