Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Jota is out of this weekend’s clash against Hibs.
The Portuguese star missed training at Lennoxtown in the run up to Celtic ’s Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig on Tuesday night. He didn’t make it for the Group F encounter, which saw the Hoops’ hopes of making it to the last 16 come crashing down as the Bundesliga outfit won 2-0 in Glasgow’s East End. The Champions could still extend their stay in Europe by finishing third and dropping into the Europa League, but it’s a big ask.
It’s back to Premiership action this weekend as Postecogolou's return to Celtic Park to face Lee Johnson’s Hibs. And the Hoops will once again be without their talisman. The manager expects the summer signing from Benfica to return to training next week, but isn’t taking any risks with his fitness so won’t be involving him when the capital club journey along the M8.
Postecoglou also revealed that defender Stephen Welsh will miss the game. He said: “ Jota is not available still. We are being conservative with him. We expect him to be back in training next week at some point. Liel is fine, he has trained.
"The only ones from the other night are David Turnbull, he picked up a bit of a knock on his ankle so he's out, and Welshy picked up a knock in training so he is out."
There was better news on Carl Starfelt. The Swede is out with a knee injury but could now return to action before the break for the World Cup next month.
"It's still a couple of weeks, but he is out there training," Postecoglou said.
"We are hopeful for before the break but the reality is there's so many games, you'd have to think abut which game you put him in because we don't have a lot of recovery between games these days.
"He is out running but it will be at least a couple of weeks before we can even consider him for selection."
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