Celtic
Injury problems mount up for Rangers with 7 on the sidelines as Celtic title race heats up
Just as Celtic close in on getting their strongest players available and back on the pitch, injury problems are reportedly mounting up across the city.
As discussed this morning, Chris Sutton feels that Brendan Rodgers could soon get his best eleven back playing together ahead of a critical period in the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.
Reo Hatate played a bounce game during the international break and Callum McGregor is expected to return quite quickly too.
With Cameron Carter-Vickers getting back to 100% and Kyogo again involved heavily, Celtic are have their trophy-winning core ready for the big push for silverware.
Celtic and Rangers title race heats up
In contrast, The Daily Record reports that Ridvan Yilmaz is the latest injury concern for Rangers after he limped out of Turkey’s defeat to Hungary with a thigh complaint.
The paper says that Yilmaz is one of seven on the sidelines including Abdallah Sima, Oscar Cortes, Ryan Jack, Kieran Dowell and Danilo – all of whom are said to likely miss their first match after the break at least.
Yilmaz has played 28 times for his clubs this season and is firmly part of Philippe Clement’s plans, so losing him would be another big blow for them.
The Ibrox side face Hibernian at home next week before hosting Celtic. The Bhoys, of course, travel to Livingston ahead of that massive derby in Govan.
If Celtic manage to win both matches – having already won in West Lothian and at Ibrox this season – they’ll be at least four points ahead before Rangers play their game in hand away to Dundee the following mid-week.
Rodgers getting his strongest players on the pitch with few injury problems could be a key factor in these closing weeks. Especially if rivals are flagging.
Alexandro Bernabei reveals the Celtic quality he ‘really lacked’ as one Parkhead factor catches attention
Alexandro Bernabei says the language barrier was a big challenge during his time at Celtic.
The Argentine left-back has departed the Premiership club on loan for the rest of the year, having moved to Glasgow from Lanus in his homeland during 2022. He is now hoping for regular minutes in Brazil with Internacional.
Greg Taylor was the number one at left-back during Ange Postecoglou’s era and that hasn’t changed with Brendan Rodgers’ second coming, leading to Bernabei finding games hard to come by. Now explaining his move back to South America at his introductory press conference, the 23-year-old insists language issues were a factor in his time at Celtic. And the style of Scottish football was a change too. He said: “What did I learn in Europe?
“The constancy. Many things in the constant work of every day, of being outside and wanting to earn a place among the 11 or 18 who were (related). Then, the language, above all, and order, which I felt I really lacked and I believe that, here, it will help me.
“I don’t think he was away” – Peter Grant Not Buying Theories About Kyogo’s Form
Former Celtic midfielder Peter Grant doesn’t think that Hoops striker Kyogo Furuhashi has ever dropped off amid recent claims that he is back to his best.
The frontman has two goals in his last two games, sparking many fans to believe that he has now returned to the dazzling form everyone knows he can hit.
Kyogo revealed on Monday morning that he isn’t afraid of failure amid his lack of inclusion in the recent Japan squad for the upcoming international break.
The fact that he had bagged just two goals in 2024 up until last weekend’s game against Livingston in the Scottish Cup contributed towards this and fairly led many to think he was not his usual self, but Grant disagrees.
He believes that the Japanese hitman is constantly lively and that a lack of service has been a key factor in his barren spell: “You were asking me earlier on about Kyogo being back, I don’t think he was away”, he said (Go Radio Football Show).
“If you put balls in the box, that guy will score goals.
“You have to service him, it’s ironic, the service he put in at the start of the second half was for Kuhn’s goal.
“The amount of times Kyogo is in that position for an early ball – that’s why I keep saying about putting the crosses in.
“It’s common sense for me. If you put the balls in, these guys have got the quality to finish and Kyogo proved that at the weekend.”
There has been a noticeable change in Celtic’s attacking play over the past few weeks. The Hoops look much more lively in forward areas, whipping balls into the box and registering several shots on goal.
Such trends must continue if silverware is to be secured come the end of May.
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