Celtic have suffered a blow in the title race with Rangers and Hearts, with Julian Araujo reportedly set to miss the rest of the season but given an immediate replacement.
Johnston returns to replace Araujo
Long-term absentee Alistair Johnston has returned to Celtic training as manager Martin O’Neill revealed injured loan defender Araujo could play his final game for the Hoops.
Canadian right-back Johnston has been out since October with a hamstring injury, but joined up with his teammates at the club’s Lennoxtown training facility ahead of Saturday’s home match against the Buddies in the William Hill Premiership.
Mexican international Araujo was sidelined for more than a month with a thigh injury and had returned to his parent club Bournemouth to recover, but suffered a setback.
Celtic manager O’Neill said: “He (Johnstone) trained with the team today, which was really encouraging.”
“I don’t think he feels any negative effects. He came in, he joined before that, then he went to the national team and got injured again. But he’s recovering well now so we really need him as soon as possible.”
“If he can do a little bit of the work that he did today with the team and the work that he did with the recuperation team and himself, then next week will hopefully be a good week of training for him, but you never know.”
Rangers’ four injury strikes help Hearts and Celtic win the title
Last weekend, the Gers rose to first place, but it came at a price.
O’Neill said of Araujo, who has become a fan favorite after appearing in 13 games for the Hoops: “Julian was injured again while in charge at Bournemouth so it was a real shock.
“We just found out today, so I don’t think we’ll see him for the rest of the season.
“I don’t know what the timing factor will be in his World Cup aspirations. We don’t know that, but certainly for us, I don’t think we’ll see him again if it’s the same injury that he got over.”
SPL table before match week 33 | point | GD |
|---|---|---|
1. Heart | 67 | 28 |
2. Rangers | 66 | 32 |
3. Celtic | 64 | twenty three |
O’Neill confirmed that right-back Colby Donovan missed Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury and is likely to miss Sunday’s Scottish Cup game against Saints at Barclays Hampden, but is “recovering well”.
Hart took the blow of his own injury.
Hearts, Celtic and Rangers are involved in one of the most intense title battles in years, with Derek McInnes delivering significant injury news at the end of May that could decide where the trophy goes.
The Jambos are aiming to become the first non-Old Firm team to win the Scottish Premiership title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in 1985.
However, the team may have to accomplish that without Tomas Magnusson, as he is expected to be out for a significant period of time with a thigh injury.
“I didn’t want to dwell on the bad news last week. Things don’t look good for him,” McInnes said.
“He’s going to get an injection on Friday to see what’s going on. The test results are not good. He could miss the season and that would be in the headlines. I don’t want that to happen. He might not be able to play again this season.”
The Rangers have also been plagued by injuries, with Ryan Naderi potentially missing the rest of the season.
