Celtic have been handed a fitness boost ahead of the weekend's Premiership clash with Kilmarnock, with Yang Hyun-jun potentially in line to return. The Bhoys are in action before then, facing Besiktas in the Europa League, but the game will come too soon for the left-winger.
Yang has not played for Celtic since the start of September, when he left for international duty with South Korea. Yang was selected as one of the overage wildcard picks for the Asian Games. South Korea went on to win the football tournament, earning Yang and his teammates military service exemptions.
The nation has since confirmed it is looking into removing or raising the standard for the exemption, so the team may be the last to earn it with an Asian Games victory, with South Korea having now won the tournament four times on the bounce, perhaps in part thanks to that extra motivation.
Yang picked up a hamstring injury during his time away, and while he was cleared to be on the bench for the semi-final and final, neither of which he featured in, he was not cleared upon his return to Celtic.
The winger returned after the last international break and has been kept out to ensure he is in a good place, with wingers particularly susceptible to relapsing with hamstring issues.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel for Yang, who could now be in line to return against Kilmarnock this weekend, which is the final game before the international break.
O'Neill said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Besiktas game: “Yang’s done a little bit of training. Yes, maybe too early for him for tomorrow. Hopefully he’s going to be around for Sunday. Definitely wants to be. And if Yang had his way he’d even be thinking about tomorrow himself. He’s really keyed up for it now."
Yang was in excellent form for Celtic before going to the Asian Games, so it was a real blow to lose him, both to the tournament itself and to the injury that followed.
The winger has put in the most complete performances of anyone on that left side, though we are yet to see what Jota can do with full fitness. The Portuguese star is currently only cleared to play around half a game and on good pitches.
But Celtic will have real competition between Yang and Jota once both are fully fit.
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