Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers believes Kasper Schmeichel might make his first-team comeback earlier than initially anticipated…
Schmeichel was back in training at Lennoxtown on Friday, just days after concerns over a potential six-week injury absence, sparking a wave of excitement among Celtic fans online.
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The goalkeeper had been out of action following a shoulder injury he sustained while playing for Denmark on March 26th against Portugal in a UEFA Nations League outing.
Kasper was training at Lennoxtown yesterday
The Danish goalkeeper returned to training in preparation for this weekend’s Scottish Premiership encounter against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park. Photos revealed Schmeichel at Lennoxtown alongside Viljami Sinisalo, showing no noticeable signs of any bandaging on his arm.
Schmeichel participated in some light, no-contact drills with his fellow keepers and appeared thrilled to be back on the pitch. Brendan Rodgers shared that the Dane might be ready ahead of time, with the Irishman humorously commenting that his feet were in top condition.
‘He’s clearly not damaged his feet’
Brendan Rodgers said: “No, no, he’s clearly not damaged his feet. So, he can use his feet and work on his touch and whatnot. I think the time we’ve been given has been five to six weeks by the medical experts, but that could be sooner.”
“So, he feels good, he’s got some mobility, he’s got rotation there, but we just obviously have to be careful with the blade and his shoulders. He can do other things, so he’s out on the training field and working on the technical side of his game.”
With Celtic only three Premiership victories away from clinching their 55th title and a remarkable 13th league triumph in 14 years, alongside a Scottish Cup semi-final approaching against Sunday’s opponents, Schmeichel’s return to the training pitch provides a significant lift to the squad.
Finnish shot-stopper Sinisalo gets his chance to step in
Schmeichel’s absence gave Finnish shot-stopper Sinisalo a chance to step in, and he marked his first league start of the season for the Scottish champions by keeping a clean sheet in last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park.
A good day for Celtic but a bad one for St Johnstone ahead of McDiarmid Park match
After today’s results in the Scottish Premiership St Johnstone are now eight points adrift of Dundee and look increasingly doomed while Celtic now know that they need just two victories to set up a title winning party at Celtic Park next Saturday afternoon, that courtesy of Hibs winning comfortably at Ibrox (2-0) this afternoon.
That’s five consecutive defeats at Ibrox for theRangers under Philippe Clement and then Barry Ferguson with Athletic Club the next visitor and very possibly Celtic after that post split.
Here’s Kasper appearing on the Celtic Podcast talking about his decision to sign a contract extension at Celtic and his Celtic career so far. This from the day after the Young Boys game in the Champions League. Haste ye back big man! We look forward to seeing you lift the trophy with one arm!
Conor Spence
