Lennon gives Kris Ajer injury update ahead of Rangers clash

The Norwegian suffered an injury in the second leg of Celtic’s Europa League Play-Off tie against AIK Stockholm and had to be taken off in the 15th minute of the game. Now Neil Lennon has given an update about Ajer’s injury ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm Derby.

Kris Ajer has emerged as the best defender plying his trade in Scotland over the past two seasons and is a very important cog in Neil Lennon’s Celtic wheel. As a result, it is understandable that both manager and fans will be very concerned with the injury that the Norwegian picked in Celtic’s 4-1 win over AIK in Sweden to qualify for the group stage of this season’s Europa League.

With a very important game coming up against Rangers away at Ibrox on Sunday, Ajer’s injury has been a major talking point considering how weak the Celtic back-line has looked without the 21-year-old. With their Glasgow rivals in good form, the result of this match could have huge influence on the Premiership table come the end of the season. As a result, the Hoops cannot afford to miss the best defender in their squad in a game of this magnitude.

It is hard to say that Ajer’s injury had not been coming for a while. He had already been taken off with injury scares on two occasions over the past two weeks. First against Dunfermline where it had looked like he had popped out his shoulder and then against Hearts last Sunday. But considering his importance to Lennon’s team, he had received no time to recover and it appears that it has come to bite Celtic in the back.

Now Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, has provided an injury update regarding his star defender and offered some hope to the Celtic supporters. Speaking to Football Scotland, Lennon said:

"“He’s had a little bit of acupuncture on it and he’s getting treatment this morning and this afternoon and we will see how he responds to that on Saturday.“Touch wood, our injuries seem to be clearing up pretty well. We will have to see how Kris is for Sunday but he is positive about it and Odsonne (Edouard) will be fine.“But looking at the squad in general, apart from Hatem (Abd Elhamed) – who is reaching to get 100 per cent fit – and Tom Rogic, we are in good shape physically, even though it’s been a monumental month.“Jozo (Simunovic) has been rested. He still has the issue with his knee, but we are hoping he will be in contention.”"

Celtic fans will be hoping that that is the case as it will be an uphill battle to contain the Rangers attack without the Norwegian in their line-up.