St Johnstone will be without two players for their visit of Celtic Park on Saturday. Callum Davidson’s side are enjoying a purple patch of form in what has been an incredibly tough campaign, especially after the heights of last season. Davidson’s team won both the League Cup and Scottish Cup but find themselves in 11th place.
Davidson will be hoping to defy the odds and escape from Paradise with a point as he looks to stall Premiership leaders Celtic. The ex-Scotland Internationalist will have to do so without Tony Gallacher and may also need to make plans without Dan Cleary as both injured in the win over Livingston at the weekend. As reported by The Courier, Davidson issued an update on the pair – stating that Gallacher’s season was over whilst Cleary required stitches following the game.
A fracture to his leg means that the ex-Liverpool talent will now be facing three months out – which Davidson says is a shame as he was appearing to impress.
“It doesn’t look great. He’s been for an x-ray and it hasn’t come back positive. It looks like a fracture, which would mean he’s out for the rest of the season.
“Tony has come back up the road to play games and he’s done that. He’s played quite a few games in a row and is quietly progressing.
“There are bits of his game that remind me of when Scott Tanser came in at first – he’s got great pace and energy to get up the line.
“The more minutes he was getting the more confident he was becoming. This is obviously a blow for him but hopefully he’ll recover quickly and we can get him back in for pre-season.”
Meanwhile, Cleary may still play a part on Saturday but it appears unlikely given that Davidson has said that he will not train in the early part of this week due to swelling on his foot.
“From the other one, Dan Cleary has ended up needed stitches on the top of his foot. For me it was a tackle that could quite easily have been a sending off.
“You could see the reaction from their sub when it was made.
“It’s the sort of tackle you could make in my day – straight leg, front-on. But they’re trying to get it out of the game because of the injuries it can cause.
“Dan won’t be training early in the week – the foot is still swollen and obviously the stitches have just gone in. Hopefully it will settle down before the weekend.”
Celtic go into the game in a fine run of form. The win at Ibrox takes Ange Postecoglou’s side six points clear with six games to go. This fixture, the last before the split, offers Celtic a chance to go nine points clear with Rangers kicking off against St Mirren at midday on Sunday due to their Europa League commitments.
