James McFadden states Celtic have to ‘cope’ as their injuries mount up

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Brendan Rodgers Celtic recorded a valuable three points against St Johnstone over the weekend.

James McFadden has stated in a blunt fashion that Celtic simply have to ‘cope’ with their injury problems which have been mounting up in recent weeks.

During their 2-0 win over St Johnstone [BBC Sport] on Sunday, Odsonne Edouard, James Forrest and Mikael Lustig were the latest players to all pick up knocks, which added more players to the treatment room.

Added with that, defender Kristoffer Ajer was sent off in stoppage time, which does not help the Bhoys’ cause as they aim to maintain their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

On top of the players above, the likes of Filip Benkovic and Tom Rogic are also on the sidelines as former Scotland striker McFadden backed their ‘versatile’ squad to deal with their current situation.

“They have to [cope],” McFadden told Sky Sports News on 04/02/2019. “Bitton is back, he was on the bench [against St Johnstone], he can fill in at centre-back if required. Jack Hendry’s there.

“They have a strong squad. That’s why they strengthed so well in the January window. They brought in Toljian for the defensive side of it, so that’s where they are probably going to be stretched, but going forward they have plenty of options. They have players within the team that are versatile.”

Despite all those injuries, Celtic are still six points clear of second-placed Rangers in the table and they can extend that lead on Wednesday evening.

Rodgers will welcome seventh-placed Hibernian to Glasgow, with the Scottish Cup taking centre stage once again at the weekend – Celtic take on St Johnstone in the Fifth round.

Despite being light in a number of areas, Celtic still possess a strong attacking line as they proved during their league clash at the weekend.

Paris Saint-Germain loanee Timothy Weah came off the bench to assist James Forrest with the opening goal before rounding off a swift counter-attack to seal all the points for his side.