One big shock before Celtic vs Dundee United was Tomas Cvancara being dropped from the squad. Kelechi Iheanacho won his place back, earning his first start since the Wilfried Nancy era, and now, Martin O'Neill has confirmed why the Czech missed the match.
Speaking to the BBC prior to the game, he said:
"Tomas [Cvancara] has been ill all week. He trained yesterday, wasn’t feeling great, so there was no point.
And let's see... Iheanacho, I think he had hamstring problems before. But now, in that aspect, he has done very, very well in training. And, you know, let’s go and see. He might not last the game, but let’s go and see."
Cvancara scored his second goal for the club last weekend against Motherwell at Celtic Park. He smashed it home from the spot, and some thought that would have earned him the start at Tannadice. It's good to have a reason as to why he didn't play.
Adding to the list of sidelined players
Cvancara should be back after the international break, but for now, he has been added to the list of players who will be sitting in the stands.
Callum McGregor made his return from injury on Sunday to the delight of supporters before kick-off, but hearts were broken when Julian Araujo was left out yet again through injury. The defender is expected to be in recovery until at least after the international break.
Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels are back in training but are sadly still unavailable. It wasn't expected they would have been back for Sunday's game, and that was a correct assessment.
Arthur remains in the squad
Benjamin Arthur retained his spot in the starting lineup, despite Auston Trusty returning from his three-match ban. He was suspended after picking up a red card for apparent "violent conduct" against Hibernian, one of the worst decisions this season, but he is now ready to be back on the pitch.
Since Arthur came into the squad, he has been phenomenal. Some supporters are hoping that his loan deal will be turned into a permanent deal at the end of the season, but whether that will happen is yet to be seen. It's clear that O'Neill rates the Brentford loanee, but whether the next manager will is a different question.
The Hoops took a major hit in the Scottish Premiership title race with a defeat on the road. There were no goals to come for Celtic - it was awful. Hopefully, after the international break, we can reset and have most of our players back fit. Then, we have our fingers crossed that there will be a final push for the league.