The one thing that every team wants to avoid in pre-season is injuries. Celtic took to the field against Sporting CP in a friendly and it proved to be a good result for Brendan Rodgers. Goals from Reo Hatate and Luke McCowan sealed a 2-0 win for the Hoops against the Portuguese champions. Of course, one should not look too much into the results at this point but it was a positive one nonetheless.
It was not all positive for Celtic coming out of the day though. If reports are accurate then they might be sweating a fitness issue already and the season has not even started.
As reported by CeltsAreHere, Adam Idah was forced off at half-time during the game against Sporting CP. The striker appeared to be in discomfort as he left the pitch. He was holding his groin and walking gingerly, and headed straight down the tunnel with Celtic's medical team. The Irishman didn’t re-emerge for the second half, raising concerns about an injury issue.
One can only hope that the change was precautionary. The last thing that Celtic need right now is for arguably their first-choice striker to be injured in pre-season.
Celtic handed injury concern in friendly vs Sporting CP
It remains to be seen what the situation is with Idah. There were some performances against Sporting CP that do deserve mention though.
One of them came from Johnny Kenny, who played a part in the win despite not scoring himself. He has been linked with a move away but if he can keep impressing, it would be worth keeping him around.
On the other hand, Celtic appear to be closing in on another striker signing. The arrival of Shin Yamada is believed to be only a matter of time with Kawasaki Frontale already confirming his exit.