Brendan Rodgers shares positive injury update but two Celtic stars not mentioned by name
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers shared a largely positive injury update on Tuesday.
It’s been a challenging few weeks for the Hoops with a number of first-team players forced onto the sidelines with fitness issues.
It all culminated in our recent derby at Ibrox which saw us without nine players who could be considered as first-team options. The likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate missed out on the matchday squad that day through injury, while new signings Nat Phillips and Paulo Bernardo weren’t ready in time.
Of course, that didn’t stop us from earning a hugely impressive and satisfying win at the home of our rivals. And the picture is looking increasingly better ahead of the visit of Dundee to Glasgow this Saturday.
“Reo Hatate is now back training with the squad which is great news,” Rodgers revealed in a chat with Celtic TV.
“Nat Phillips, again training with the squad so he’ll hopefully be available for the weekend.
“Cameron Carter-Vickers is still a little bit away. He’ll be more early October before he’s back. But he’s out on the grass and working well.
“Marco Tilio, again back in with the squad. It’s going to take him a little bit of time to get up to speed.
“Some of the other boys are that little bit further behind.”
With Mikey Johnston and Yuki Kobayashi both back in training, Hyeongyu Oh making his return as a sub at Ibrox and the above update, the Celtic injury picture is looking a whole lot more positive.
It’s great that Carter-Vickers is only a matter of weeks away. With some big Champions League fixtures to come, it will be great to have him back. Hatate is another who has the potential to succeed at that level.
On the other end of the scale, there were two players Rodgers didn’t mention by name — Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh.
The two centre-backs are who Celtic’s boss was referring to with his “little bit further behind” remark. Both were last seen in mid-August. Nawrocki didn’t even make our Champions League group stage squad (UEFA) suggesting that his return is a fair bit away.
Welsh, meanwhile, is set to miss most of the rest of 2023 after undergoing surgery on damaged ankle ligaments.
