Confirmed: Celtic suffer another major injury blow
By Danny Wright
Celtic will have to make do without Tom Rogic for two months after the midfielder had to have surgery on an ankle injury which has already kept him out since December.
Dundee’s Darren O’Dea made a late challenge on the 24-year-old in the Scottish Premier League clash, but he was only expected to be out of action for a few weeks.
The Australian was close to a full recovery but managed to twist the same ankle in training.
Manager Brendan Rogers reported the news at a press conference on Thursday ahead of his side’s Scottish Cup clash against Inverness CT on Saturday.
“He [Rogic] had to have an operation on his ankle. Unfortunate as it came at the end of training at the same spot he had it before,” Rodgers was reported saying on the club’s official Twitter page.
“His foot stuck in the ground and twisted. It was either to go through the same procedures as before or an operation.”
It is another major injury blow for Celtic, who have only just welcomed left-back Kieran Tierney into the team after a three-month absence with ankle ligament damage.
Rogic was vital to Celtic’s plans during the first half of the season where he played in all but two league games up until his injury.
In just 14 league games, the attacking midfielder has scored six goals and bagged four assists for the Hoops this season.
Rodger’s finished his press conference by confirming that Rogic will be back in time for the end of the season in April.
“So Rogic went to London and had an operation. He’s on his way to recovery now and will be back for the end of the season,” Rodgers added.
Celtic appear to have already won the league title this season, as they currently have a staggering 27 point lead over second-placed Aberdeen.
Football Insider verdict”
This is a massive shame for Celtic. The Australian has been a great signing for Celtic and proved that when he went on a goal-scoring spree in the first half of the season, despite the talents of Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele being in the squad. Hopefully this is it for Rogic and there are no more reoccurrences to his injury during his recovery, however Rodger’ has made it very clear that they were not willing to take any risks this time round and sent him immediately to a specialist.
In other Celtic news, 25-year-old rules out Premier League switch.
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