Celtic star Colby Donovan has withdrawn from the Scotland under-21s squad. The Bhoys star missed out on a senior call-up this time around, although he did not end up making it onto the pitch during the last window.
Donovan has been in relentless action for Celtic over the last few weeks, playing seven times since the end of the last international break, which has included a midweek game every week, as well as weekend action.
With Alistair Johnston briefly returning from his long injury layoff and then suffering a fresh setback, the workload has fallen upon Donovan with the exception of the Besiktas game, which Jordan Lotomba started.
Donovan has enjoyed an excellent season so far, and it's a credit to him, at the age of 20, that he has managed to seize the opportunity to become the number one replacement for Johnston despite the presence of more veteran options like Lotomba and Anthony Ralston, who have barely seen game time.
But the game time may have added up to cause a problem, with Donovan now withdrawing from Scotland under-21s action during this upcoming window. The reason for the withdrawal has not been given, so we don't know whether it is an injury or whether there has been a conversation between Celtic and the SFA to make them aware that the youngster is at risk of an overload, given the number of games he has played.
The youngster has already racked up a remarkable 21 games across all competitions for Celtic this season, which is likely more than what he was expecting to play all season.
Johnston may well return after this international break, which should provide some relief for Donovan in terms of rest, but that will be more of necessity than desire, with the youngster likely loving the amount of game time he has had.
While it has been a frustrating time for Johnston, especially when you consider the injury issues he had last season, his absence has shown Celtic what a talent they have in Donovan, who can compete at that position for years to come.
But fans will now be hoping there isn't any significant injury issue with Donovan given his withdrawal from international duty. The youngster played a full 90 minutes in Celtic's narrow win over Kilmarnock on Sunday, so if he picked up an injury, it wasn't immediately obvious what it was during that game, even to him.
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