We might be just one game into the new season but Celtic are dealing with their fair share of injuries. It remains to be seen when Alistair Johnston will be fit enough to feature again. The likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki only returned to action during the final pre-season friendly as well and might not be at a hundred per cent yet.
Now, another name has been added to the injured list. And it is that of South Korean international, Oh Hyeon-gyu.
Oh was part of the matchday squad at the weekend but did not come on as a substitute. And now, it looks like the striker has picked up a calf injury, which will keep him out of action for a considerable length of time.
It appears that Oh could be set for four to six weeks out on the sidelines. As reported by STV News, Brendan Rodgers said about his situation:
"“Oh will probably be out for a few weeks.“He hurt his calf against Athletic Bilbao but no one knew and he trained on.“He was involved in the game at the weekend and then he trained on the Sunday and afterwards he spoke to the medical team to say he felt his calf and it has ended up that he has a calf problem which might put him out for four to six weeks. So that’s where he is at.”"
Celtic player ruled out for 4-6 weeks with a calf injury
Oh arrived at Celtic earlier this year from Suwon Samsung Bluewings. And after a slow start to life at Parkhead, he has certainly found his feet in the Scottish game.
He made an impact towards the end of last season and was impressive in pre-season as well. The injury has come at the wrong time for him though.
He is the cover option for Kyogo and it remains to be seen whether the club will decide to dip into the transfer market and try to sign another striker, now that it is clear that Oh will spend quite some time out on the sidelines. To be honest, that would be the logical thing to do.
One could argue that Celtic needed a third option at striker anyway. We saw them struggle with their finishing in the Champions League last season. And Oh’s injury makes signing another centre-forward pretty much a necessity.