Revealed: Celtic face being without six stars for clash v Hamilton

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Published on:

12 Sep 2019, 1:30 am

By Wayne Veysey

Celtic face being without six senior stars for this weekend's Scottish Premiership clash against Hamilton, Football Insider understands.

Manager Neil Lennon is counting the cost of injuries sustained to his players both before and during the current international break.

A Celtic source has told Football Insider that centre-back duo Nir Bitton (hamstring) and Jozo Simunovic (knee) are both out for a few more weeks with injuries sustained before the break.

Mikey Johnston (groin) is out for Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Hamilton, while Marian Shved sustained an ankle injury while away training with Ukraine.

Kristoffer Ajer (groin) is facing a battle to be fit for this weekend after missing the Old Firm win over Rangers, and a more likely return date is against Rennes in next Thursday's Europa League clash.

Tom Rogic is close to making his long-awaited return from an ankle injury that has sidelined him for the entirety of the new season, but this weekend could be too soon for him.

Lennon is set to make changes to the team that beat Rangers 2-0, with his principal headache likely to be the make-up of the defence in the absence of three senior centre-backs.

In other Celtic news, it can be REVEALED that a rarely-seen Hoops player is set for a major role after Lennon blown away in training.

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