Kris Ajer will be forced to sit out today’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden and picking up a groin injury in the 2-2 draw with Lille in the Europa League group H match on Thursday night.
Nir Bitton, back after being sidelined with covid, replaced the Norwegian for the final 30 minutes against Lille and should be in the starting line-up today alongside Shane Duffy. If Bitton can’t play the full 90 minutes, with the possibility of extra time too, then Neil Lennon can bring on either Stephen Welsh or Hatem Elhamed, who makes his own return to the squad after recovering from the virus picked up while on international duty with Israel last month.
On Ajer missing out today, the Celtic manager Neil Lennon had this to say to the media, as reported by Scottish Sun:
“We haven’t got clarity on the extent of the injury. He’s to go for a scan so we’ll know more when we get the results back.
“I think it’s safe to say he won’t play on Sunday. He just felt something go in his groin and he couldn’t continue.
“He was very stiff on the plane on the way back. We won’t be able to determine how long he’s out for until we get the scan results.
“He’s been playing really well. I just think it’s a culmination of a lot of games, a bit of muscle fatigue in there.”
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