NafisaCeltic finally gave their supporters something to smile about on Saturday afternoon as Martin O’Neill’s side responded to their Champions League disaster with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Falkirk at Celtic Park.
The Hoops desperately needed the three points after their extraordinary collapse against LASK in Austria, where a four-goal aggregate advantage was thrown away in one of the most painful European nights in the club’s recent history.
Camilo Durán stepped up in the absence of several key players, scoring twice to ensure Celtic got the response they needed.
But beneath the relief of another league victory, O’Neill was already dealing with a worrying situation in attack.
Record signing Kasper Høgh missed the game after suffering an injury, while captain Callum McGregor was also unavailable because of illness. The Celtic manager admitted before kick-off that Høgh’s fitness would have to be managed carefully with a demanding run of fixtures coming up.
That situation has now become even more concerning.
Celtic hit with another attacking injury blow:
Celtic could now be facing the prospect of losing another striker after Osmand was seen leaving the stadium wearing a protective boot on his left foot.
The concern is particularly significant given that the same leg was previously affected by a serious hamstring injury suffered against Midtjylland in November.
That injury kept the striker out until May, before he eventually returned and scored against Hearts in the victory which secured Celtic the league title.
Osmand’s latest setback will therefore be a major worry for both the player and O’Neill.
The striker was seen lying on the turf at full-time after coming on in the 70th minute, with the sight immediately raising questions about whether he had suffered another significant problem.
For Celtic, the timing could hardly be worse.
Høgh is already injured, meaning Osmand had been presented with an opportunity to earn more minutes and potentially play a bigger role in O’Neill’s plans.
Instead, he now appears to have suffered an injury of his own.
O’Neill could be left seriously short up front:
The situation could leave Celtic with only Camilo Durán and Johnny Kenny as recognised striker options if Osmand is forced to spend time on the sidelines.
That would be particularly problematic given the number of matches Celtic have coming up.
Kenny has already been linked with a move away from Parkhead, but Osmand’s situation could now force O’Neill to reconsider any plans to allow the forward to leave.
Losing another striker at this stage would leave Celtic with very little depth in an area where Høgh’s absence is already being felt.
And for Osmand personally, the latest development is especially frustrating.
The English striker had only just started to see a potential route into the team open up following Høgh’s injury.
Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, he now appears to have picked up an injury after only limited league minutes this season.
Celtic supporters will therefore be hoping the protective boot is simply a precaution and that Osmand has avoided another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
But after Høgh was already ruled out against Falkirk, the sight of another striker leaving Celtic Park with an apparent injury will do little to calm nerves around O’Neill’s squad.
The 2-1 victory was exactly what Celtic needed after the LASK nightmare.
Yet the celebrations have been tempered by another worrying question: just how many attacking options will O’Neill actually have available when the fixtures begin piling up?
Nafisa
