Celtic caretaker manager Martin O’Neill revealed that the club has suffered a fresh injury blow ‘today’ which could further boost Rangers and Hearts’ chances of winning the Scottish Premiership title.
Rangers and Hearts are the current top two ahead of Celtic in the standings, with a fiercely-contested three-way title race looking as though it could go all the way until the end of the season.
With one game to go until the split, the Hoops lie in third position, but they are just three points adrift of Derek McInnes’ Jambos at the summit, with Rangers one point below Hearts..
Celtic will host both of their title rivals at Parkhead when the league split happens, with the last Old Firm clash of the campaign on May 10, before they welcome Hearts to Paradise in the final round of fixtures a week later.
O’Neill will be hoping that he has as many players available to him as possible in the next half-a-dozen fixtures, although one player has now suffered a season-ending setback.
O’Neill Issues Devastating Araujo Blow
Martin O’Neill looks on from the Celtic dugout
One of Celtic’s key players in recent months has been Julian Araujo, following his loan move from Premier League side Bournemouth during the January transfer window.
The Mexico international made 13 appearances in all competitions for the Bhoys, scoring once, before suffering a hamstring injury last month.
The 24-year-old returned to his parent club for treatment with the hope that he could return and play for Celtic before the season concluded.
However, O’Neill has revealed that Celtic discovered on Friday that the full-back has suffered a recurrence of the problem on the south coast of England that looks to be season-ending.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference for St Mirren, O’Neill said when asked about an update on Araujo:
“I’m glad you mentioned that. Julian re-injured himself under supervision at Bournemouth. So that’s a real blow. We only found that out today. So I don’t think we will see him for the rest of the season.
“I don’t know what sort of time element it is for his World Cup aspirations. I don’t know that. But certainly for us, I don’t think we will see him again, if it’s the same injury that he has redone.”
Celtic Given Alistair Johnston Boost
Alistair Johnston of Celtic
Alistair Johnston of Celtic
The news that Araujo won’t be returning to Celtic Park heightens the need for the club to have Alistair Johnston back in action as soon as possible.
The Canada international suffered a hamstring injury in August and then damaged it again after returning to action in October, which has seen him on the sidelines since.
However, O’Neill has confirmed that the 27-year-old is back in training again with his team needing him ‘as soon as possible’ with just six matches remaining in a tense title race.
The Northern Irishman said: “He’s trained with the team today, which was very encouraging. I don’t think he felt any ill effects. But he has joined in, he joined in before, then he went and re-injured himself with the national side. But he’s coming up well now. So we’ll need him as soon as possible.”
