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Celtic star finally breaks silence over injury controversy

By Sourav Mahanty

MOTHERWELL, SCOTLAND - APRIL 9 : Nir Bitton of Celtic in action during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Motherwell FC at Fir Park on April 9, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
MOTHERWELL, SCOTLAND - APRIL 9 : Nir Bitton of Celtic in action during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Motherwell FC at Fir Park on April 9, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) /
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Nir Bitton played for Israel last night despite being deemed injured by the Celtic medical team and now has finally broken his silence over the controversy.

Nir Bitton had to walk out injured in Celtic’s Europa League Play-Off game against FK Sarajevo after twisting his ankle badly. The original assessment was that the Israeli international was set to out of action for three to four weeks and was probably gonna miss the upcoming Glasgow Derby as well.

As a result, his inclusion in his national team squad to take on Scotland in the UEFA Euro qualifiers came as a huge surprise to most fans. It caused huge controversy in the Scottish media, which has only been heightened after Israel manager Willi Ruttensteiner decided to play him for 120 minutes last night and then even took one of their penalty kicks.

Following the incident, he has been left out of their upcoming Nations League games against Czech Republic and Slovakia, and it is starting to look like the decision to play him last night was taken keeping the occasion in mind instead of thinking about his fitness.

At this point, Bitton himself has decided to break his silence over the matter. The versatile Celtic man told PLZ Soccer:

"“Celtic is the club who pay my salary but as a person, as a professional athlete, I couldn’t give up on this game.“These are the games you dream of playing when you are six years old.“Even the day after the injury I told the medical staff at Celtic that I wanted to give myself a chance. I twisted my ankle very badly away in Bosnia and I didn’t believe I could make it.“On the way back home on Friday I was on crutches, I was in a wheelchair and I couldn’t even walk on the foot.“But I wasn’t going to rule myself out of the game until I knew that I couldn’t play.“I never give up, I always try to push myself to the limit but to be honest the medical staff here did an unbelievable job, they treated me like their child with treatment three times a day.“I played this game only because of them and I understand the frustration of Celtic. I was glad I made it but it is a bit frustrating now.”More from Celtic FC NewsCeltic handed fresh injury doubt before Feyenoord gameCeltic’s £40.7 million announcement should scare RangersBrendan Rodgers makes superb claim about returning Celtic playerBBC pundit makes sensational claim about Celtic hero KyogoKyogo Furuhashi sends clear message to Celtic doubters"

It does not look like it was the right decision by any stretch of the imagination considering the player’s own description of his situation leading up to the game. Yes, his willingness to be there for his team is admirable but sometimes you just have to think of your long-term health.

At this point of time, Celtic fans can only hope that his participation last night has not led to further aggravation of the injury. The Scottish Sun reports that he is a doubt for next Saturday’s game against the Rangers but at that was expected, even if he had not played last night.

The entire situation must have left Neil Lennon fuming though as he looks set to be without a lot of his key stars next week. James Forrest is already out with a fractured ankle. Odsonne Edouard tested positive after reported to French under-21 duty. And Ryan Christie has been told to self-isolate for 14 days.

At this point of time, if Nir Bitton is also added to that list, then it will start to look like a mini crisis heading into the most important game of this season till now.

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