Palma injury scare, Abada and Maeda praised by former Celtic winger

Injury to Palma thankfully doesn’t sound too concerning, especially with Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada sidelined…

against Mexico and will be unavailable for their return match against the Mexicans on Wednesday.

But before we all start worrying, it doesn’t look like anything serious and despite it been unclear what the type of injury he’s carrying, it’s hopefully not one that will cause too many major concern at Lennoxtown.

It could of course prevent him from playing against Motherwell on Saturday, but it’s not one that could see him ruled out long term like Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate. The last thing Celtic needs is losing any more players to injury, especially one as talented as Palma, especially when he’s starting to hit top form for club and country.

Thankfully though it doesn’t sound to concerning, despite the over reaction of the media. He appears to be carrying a knock and no more than that. It’s causing him some discomfort but it’s unlikely to stop him playing.

Perhaps Luis just needs a little TLC and he’ll be fine and raring to go as we head into our important run of fixtures leading up to the January break after we play St Mirren on 2 January.

Meanwhile former Celtic and Scotland winger Davie Provan has praised two of his old club’s current wide-men. Provan retired from punditry a few years ago but has re-appeared as a columnist in the Sunday Post, and that’s a welcome return as Provan was always one of the more intelligent former players who would never be afraid to have his say, even if we didn’t always see eye-to-eye with him!

As a Celtic winger in the late 1970s and early 1980s he was a hugely popular player and along with Murdo MacLeod was one of Cesar’s top signings during his first spell as Celtic manager.

Provan has highlighted both Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada as the two wingers he rates very highly in the current Celtic squad.

“I’m not sure of Liel Abada’s recovery timetable. But he is really, really good. I like him so much. He is another who is so young and has lots of time on his side. But he still does it in big games. He has tormented (the)Rangers a few times,” Davie Provan told The Sunday Post.

“When I look at the Celtic squad I see some players of high quality. I feel the squad is much stronger than what (the)Rangers have.

“Daizen Maeda is also a real asset on the wings. He can be explosive on the ball at any given moment and must be a headache for full-backs. It’s unfortunate he is injured just now. He will be a sore miss for the team.

“I’m sure Brendan would love to have him back available for the game against (the)Rangers on December 30. He plays well against (the)Rangers. He scores and he creates.”