Celtic boss Martin O'Neill may be forced to get a closer look at the club's midfield summer signings amid an injury scare involving starting midfielder Mika Baur.
Baur has proven himself a fine recruit following hia £4.5million arrival from Paderborn. The Germany international has been forced to adapt to a deeper role, which has thrown up some issues, but that speaks to Celtic's poor recruitment overall.
It's clear that Baur is a very good player, even drawing praise from Germany boss Jurgen Klopp, who handed the midfielder his first two senior caps recently.
But Baur was dealt an injury scare late on during Sunday's 1-0 win over Kilmarnock. The midfielder limped off with five minutes remaining, and O'Neill has since confirmed that the issue is a suspected ankle sprain, albeit it a fairly significant one. Baur will now have a scan.
Fortunately for Celtic. it's now the international break, so Baur has two weeks to recover, but whether he is back for the first game after the break remains unclear.
Ankle issues can be strengthened up pretty quickly, but a high grade ankle sprain can be a good few weeks, and significant ligament damage can even take a couple of months.
The latter seems unlikely with Baur having applied some weight to his ankle as he limped around the pitch, but ankle issues typically stiffen up after the fact.
If Baur does miss action, it will be interesting to see if O'Neill opts to get a look at Oliver Sorensen or Joel van der Berg, who arrived during the summer window.
Both were late signings brought in to fill gaps after inefficient recruitment, in truth, and their lack of involvement has shown that, albeit it van der Berg has had some injury issues.
Alex Oxlade-Chambrlain is an option, but playing him alongside Callum McGregor is an issue in terms of energy and legs. O'Neill would likely need a more agile option, and that could mean Van der Berg gets a run out as a box-to-box midfielder.
Sorensen is more of an advanced player and has seen some action in a deeper role, but he has not convinced at this point. Luke McCowan could also be an option, and he has been given some minutes in the last two games, so he could be an option.
But with McCowan having struggled this season, it would be some indictment on the new signings if O'Neill turned to him.
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