Ange Postecoglou gave an injury update at his press conference yesterday, giving news on four of our absentees. Amongst the four were Tom Rogic and Carl Starfelt, whom Ange admits face a race to be fit for the match at Hampden Park on Saturday 20 November against St Johnstone.
Both Rogic and Starfelt succumbed to hamstring injuries against Hibernian and Livingston respectively. On a memorable night at Easter Road when Ange defeated Hibs on their home turf – being was the first Celtic boss in seven years to do so – Tom Rogic was sensational for the first half-an-hour, before he had to be removed. The absence of Rogic was felt when Livingston came to Celtic Park on the Saturday of that very same week, with Celtic struggling to break down what seemed an impervious black wall.
Coincidentally, it was on that afternoon when Carl Starfelt felt a pull in his leg after a seemingly harmless pass back towards his own goal. The defender was removed and Nir Bitton moved to central defence as Celtic chased that elusive goal. It’s fair to say that Starfelt was just beginning to cement his place in the side before that unfortunate blip sidelined him for subsequent trips to Ferencvaros and Dundee.
On the two, Ange said: “Carl and Tommy are trying hard to make the semi-final next weekend. It’s obviously an important game but we also have an important one four days later. Tommy is probably a little bit ahead of Carl at the moment, but I wouldn’t rule either of them out right now.”
“We won’t put them at risk so it’s probably going to be one of those touch and go ones. If they don’t make the semi-final, I’d think they will probably be ready for the Leverkusen game.”
Postecoglou also gave updates on Chrisopher Jullien and Greg Taylor, both long-term absentees. The Celtic manager, who will be speaking to the Celtic Fan Media on Monday, added: “Chris and Greg won’t make the semi-final and it might be into December for them. I don’t like putting an end date on it, as they could surprise me and come back earlier, or they could get a setback and be longer. But they are both working hard and they are both looking good. They have different hurdles to overcome. With Greg it’s about getting clearance for his shoulder.”
He continued: “We have had good news on that. The last update is that it has healed well, so as soon as he gets the all-clear he is pretty much ready to play. With Chris it’s a little more difficult as he will need some sort of game-time and it’s about picking the right moment to put him in.”
Paul Gillespie
