Martin O’Neill has given an injury update on Marcelo Saracchi and Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of this afternoon’s encounter against Dundee United at Celtic Park…
Celtic’s push to bolster their squad this January has been accelerated by a growing injury crisis since the start of the season.
Defender Marcelo Saracchi remains unavailable after sustaining a hamstring problem during O’Neill’s initial spell in charge earlier in the campaign, while striker Kelechi Iheanacho has been ruled out since being forced off in the first half in last month’s Premier Sports League Cup final defeat to St Mirren.
Speaking via The Herald (The Celtic Star and the rest of the Celtic fan media remains banned by the Celtic Board) about the duo, O’Neill said: “It shouldn’t be too long now for both of them. They’ve been on the grass. They are training on their own now. They are not too far away.
“These are the problems when you get hamstring injuries. I know this because in the latter stages of my own career, I suffered from them a bit and you become wary. Suddenly, you think that you have a problem when you don’t really. It goes into your mind.”
“But if you’ve had a series of them and you are coming back again, you feel as if ‘Oh, I got to this stage last time’ and the next thing is you play, and it goes again. Once it’s doing that, it’s a long time out.”
Celtic are also continuing to cope without winger Jota, who has been on the sidelines for an extended period. The Portuguese fans-favourite sustained serious cruciate ligament damage during the title-clinching victory over Dundee United at Tannadice in April, ruling him out for the long term.
“Funnily enough, I was actually speaking to him at lunchtime there,” O’Neill said. “He’s still a fair distance away.”
Celtic’s defensive options are unlikely to improve any time soon, with Alistair Johnston tentatively pencilled in for a comeback around March. Centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers is facing a much longer rehabilitation period and is not anticipated to be available until next season.
Callum Osmand is also continuing his recovery from a hamstring problem sustained after being carried off during the trip to Midtjylland in Herning back in November.
Conor Spence
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