Celtic have had their fair share of injury problems in recent times and would not want to deal with any more fitness issues, especially at the moment, as they are struggling to find some form. But unfortunately, things do not always work out as you hope. And for the Hoops, it looks like they have been handed a fresh concern coming out of the game against Red Star Belgrade.
After the game in Serbia, we had covered how Cameron Carter-Vickers had looked uncomfortable in the second half. While it looks like he has come through the match without any injuries, there is a concern about Reo Hatate.
Hatate was on the receiving end of heavy criticism for his performance against Red Star Belgrade. As it turns out, he is not 100% fit coming out of the match. And one has to wonder if that had an effect on his display in Serbia.
Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the issue. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Celtic manager said ahead of this weekend's match against Hibernian:
"We’ve got Reo as a question mark, but apart from that, we’re virtually the same.
“He felt a bit tight in his hamstring, so we’ll just have to monitor that, and I’ll find out this afternoon where he’s at."
Fresh Celtic injury concern confirmed out of nowhere
Hopefully, it is nothing serious and Hatate will be back available soon. To be fair, most Celtic fans would have liked to see him on the bench for this one after his performance against Red Star, as he misplaced a number of passes and failed to control the middle of the park, which has been the case in most big games in recent times.
The likes of Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels have not gotten too many chances this season. And of course, they have their fair share of critics as well. At the end of the day, there is a possibility though, that they could gel well with the combination of Callum McGregor and Benjamin Nygren.
A lot of people feel that the trio of McGregor, Nygren and Hatate simply does not work. So, this might be a good chance for Rodgers to find out if a different combination works or not.
Anyways, at the top of his game, Hatate is one of the best midfielders in Scotland. So, we can only hope that he is back to full fitness as soon as possible. Best wishes, Reo.