Injury expert issues Starfelt and Rogic updates ahead of Celtic semi-final showdown
Ange Postecoglou may use the League Cup to reintroduce his injured players before they return to action in more important competitions.
So says injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
The Hoops face St Johnston in the League Cup semi-final on 20 November in their first match back after the recent round of international fixtures.
Postecoglou told the Daily Record on 3 November that he hoped injured duo Carl Starfelt and Tom Rogic will be ready to return “after the break”.
The centre-half and attacking midfielder have both been sidelined with hamstring complaints in recent weeks.
Celtic have fixtures against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League and Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership in the eight days after the semi-final.
Postecoglou’s call on whether to treat the League Cup as a warm-up act will tell us a lot about his “long-term plans for the season”, claims Dinnery.
“Both were short-term hamstring injuries,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“Rogic suffered his against Hibs towards the end of October, Srarfelt was a couple of days later at Livingston.
“It won’t have affected their fitness too much. If they are in contention for the game, they are back in full-contact training with the group.
“It will come down to what the manager’s priorities are. I think it will tell us about his long-term plans for the season.
“Does he want to use this semi-final as preparation for the next league game and get some minutes in their legs?
“My concern with bringing these players off the bench is that you can’t warm up as thoroughly as you can pre-match.
“You’re effectively restricted to the touchline. If you are coming into the game cold, that isn’t ideal.”
In other news, Frank McAvennie tips Anthony Ralston for new role against St Johnstone as Celtic rocked by injury blow.