It would be safe to say that Celtic cannot afford any injury problems at this time. They find themselves sitting six points behind Hearts in the title race, having only managed a draw away at Tynecastle Park at the weekend. That is not the end of their problems though. One also has to point out that the Rangers are now two points ahead of the Hoops, which is remarkable considering how bad things had gotten for them under Russell Martin.
It is pretty clear that the ill-advised decision to bring in Wilfried Nancy has done some serious damage to Celtic's season. Now, it is up to Martin O'Neill to help them recover and hopefully finish with some silverware.
The league title race won't be easy for Celtic, that is for sure. And if they are going to have any chance of winning, they will need a consistent goalscorer, which is something they have missed for a while now.
The club did go out and sign a striker this month. They brought in Tomas Cvancara on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach, with an option to buy included in the deal as well. But there were some fears that he had picked up a hamstring injury in his very first game for the Hoops, which was against Hearts.
Celtic fans will love Martin O'Neill's comments amid one injury fear
Fortunately, it looks like the issue picked up at the weekend might not have been anything to worry about. There was no mention of an injury when O'Neill talked about Cvancara recently.
As reported by CeltsAreHere, the manager said while speaking on Celtic TV:
"Tomas has come in, and what a baptism that was for him. Other than Ibrox, I suppose, he couldn’t have chosen a more difficult ground or a team to play against, with the top-quality players they have at the back.
“And when he started to get used to the surroundings, then he used that great pace that he has, and the pull-back with his left foot was really terrific.
“So when he settles down and gets his adjustments, I think he can be good for us.
“So that’s nice to see, that he could add a bit of something between now and the end of the season."
Cvancara did manage to impress O'Neill with his movement against Hearts, even if he might not have found the back of the net. The manager seems to be expecting good things from the Czech international.
At the same time, there continue to be rumours of Celtic potentially signing another striker before the close of the window. That being said, considering how things have played out at Parkhead over the last few months, it would not be a surprise if they fail to bring a centre-forward in.