One Celtic star is still expected to be called up for international duty this month, despite having picked up a knock just days before he is due to be in action for his national team, it has emerged.
Celtic labour to cup win
Struggling by their own standards in the Scottish Premiership, the Scottish Cup was a welcome distraction for Brendan Rodgers and co. But while they eventually made it through to the next round courtesy of a 4-2 win, it was far from a vintage performance from the Scottish champions and will have done little to reassure fans that they will be able to pip bitter rivals Rangers to the domestic crown come the end of the campaign.
| The battle for the SPL crown | ||||||
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GD | Points | |
| Rangers | 29 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 48 | 70 |
| Celtic | 29 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 46 | 68 |
The two face each other at Ibrox next month, and Celtic know that a win will be vital in their bid to retain their title, but they are sweating on the fitness of one key man.
Carter-Vickers picks up knock
Now, Celtic are reeling from another injury issue as it has emerged that Carter-Vickers was absent in the weekend win after picking up a knock ‘in the back of his leg’ during training. The 26-year-old has already missed a large chunk of the season through injury, and now could be sidelined further, though the fact that he was able to complete the training sessions lends hope to the idea that he may not be on the treatment table for too long.
“We were just going through something very light on Saturday and he felt something in the back of his leg,” Rodgers explained.
“He was okay to continue training but we just didn’t want to take any risk whatsoever with him. As much as he wants to play every game and be there, we had this earlier in the season when he said he was okay, but we ended up losing him for a number of matches.
“Hopefully it’s nothing too serious. We just have to wait and see. If players are fit and available then we can’t stop him going, that’s internationals. He’ll obviously be called up for the USA I’m sure, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the scan result says.”
The USMNT face Jamaica later this month in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final, and a win would pit them against either Panama or Mexico in the final. Carter-Vickers has been named among the provisional roster for his country, and started both quarter-final legs in their nervy win over Trinidad.
But injury could put pay to his involvement should it turn out to be more serious than first feared. He was not the only absentee as Celtic made it into the last four of the Scottish Cup over the weekend, with Callum McGregor also absent through injury. Rodgers hopes to have his midfield general back after the international break though.
“There will be other players who can come in, but the level that he brings the game to is beyond what a lot of our players can do. Fingers crossed again we can get to the bottom of that and he’ll be available after the international break.”
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