Nir Bitton is the latest Celtic Star to suffer an injury and the Israeli utility man now faces a race against the clock to be fit for the game against the Rangers on 17 October. However the angle injury Bitton picked up in the early stages of last night’s 1-0 Europa League Play-off victory against FK Sarajevo could be good news for Scotland boss Steve Clarke as the injury means that Bitton will be forced to miss the Nations League Play-off against the Scots.
The Celtic manager though remained thrilled at his side reaching the Europa League Group stages but in recent weeks has seen injuries to Christopher Jullien (back), Ajeti (hamstring) and Forrest (calf). The Swiss striker still hopes to be fit to face the Rangers, while James Forrest has already been ruled out. The French central defender was on the bench against Sarajevo but wasn’t called upon to replace Bitton.
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“We were fantastic and thoroughly deserved the win. I’m so happy for the players and the club. Our source of frustration was going out the Champions League and there’s no denying there’s been a hangover from that but since then we’ve won seven-in-a-row,” Neil Lennon said.
“We had to be physically strong. I thought we lacked aggression in our play in the first-half but second-half was a lot better and the game went our way. A little bit of luck and we could’ve won the game by more.”
“Hatem did a great job coming in for Nir so early. You can see the players are coming into their form now. It’s a big night for us, another group stage and hopefully we can make inroads now in the competition.”
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On Nir Bitton’s contribution so far this season: “”He’s been superb. He rolled his ankle, twisted it so it’s a bad one. He won’t be available for the weekend or the international matches. It’s another blow to us because he’s been in brilliant form.
“Nir’s badly twisted his ankle. There’s swelling, so we need to wait and see. But he’s out for Sunday and certainly out for the qualifiers as well. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, just three or four weeks,” Lennon said.
🎙️ Neil Lennon: On The Match 🎙️
Hear from the manager after #CelticFC progress to the @EuropaLeague Group Stages! 🍀#FKSCEL #UEL pic.twitter.com/DOMAMXY9AB
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 1, 2020
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