Neil Lennon has his fingers crossed and is hoping for the best as far as the the seriousness of the injury to Stephen Welsh picked up in the 4-0 win at the SMISA Stadium last night. St Mirren striker Jon Obika studs caught the young Celtic defender’s ankle and it looked a painful one at the time.
Whether there is going to be long-term damage remains to be seen and we should hear more today.
“He got a real heavy knock, a trauma,” Lennon said last night to Celtic TV. “His foot is in a pot at the minute so it is difficult to assess the damage until the physios get a real good look at it.
“We are hoping it is just a bang on the ankle. But we will have to see if there is any damage there. He seemed okay. With the foot in the pot it kind of keeps it stable and he didn’t look to be in any distress.
(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Photo: Andrew Milligan
“He has done very well. We have been very pleased with him and he is a good kid. Hopefully he won’t miss any games. If he does he will be back in the squad as soon as possible because he has earned it.”
The Celtic manager asked his players for more in the second half after a Tom Rogic goal in the first forty-five minutes had given his side the lead.
“We scored a very good goal in the first-half, but I didn’t think we played that well,” Lennon admitted. “We gave the ball away a lot with unforced errors. It was unlike us.
“I had a few words with them at half-time and we were a lot better in the second-half. I thought we were outstanding.
“It looked like the Celtic team of this time last year – rampant, full of quality, full of running and full of goals. Coming here is always difficult but we could have won the game by five or six tonight comfortably.
“We played great. Brown was excellent in the second-half, Christie looked more like himself when he came on, Rogic was imperious and Odsonne and Ajeti dovetailed well up front.
“I gave them a bit of a whipping at half-time and got the exact response I was looking for.”
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