Neil Lennon provides injury update on four Celtic players

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The Celtic manager has provided information on Mikey Johnston, Marian Shved, Tom Rogic and Vakoun Bayo.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has provided an injury update on four players ahead of the club’s clash with Estonian champions Nomme Kalju on Wednesday night, speaking in his pre-match press conference.

After safely progressing against FK Sarajevo, the Hoops take part in the second qualifying round over the next week or so for the chance to play either CFR Cluj or Maccabi Tel-Aviv at the next stage of the process.

Celtic will be strong favourites for the encounter as seeds but will require full concentration to get the job done.

The home leg comes first and they’ll be hoping to build a healthy lead ahead of a trip abroad next Tuesday.

Lennon doesn’t have extensive injury problems to worry about but three that have been involved in pre-season have missed out recently.

The Celtic boss is hoping to welcome them back soon.

Speaking on the club’s official YouTube channel, Lennon said: “[Mikey] Johnston’s back in the squad.

[Vakoun] Bayo’s back in training, [Marian] Shved’s back in training. We’re getting two or three back now and tomorrow might be a bit too soon for them but at least they’re nearly fully fit again.”

Johnston scored a crucial away goal in Bosnia, equalising after the home side found themselves ahead. Showing good form towards the end of last season and this summer, having the youngster back adds a potent threat to the Celtic team.

Bayo meanwhile has had rotten luck with injuries and fitness since joining in January. Finally getting proper minutes under his belt in pre-season friendlies, he managed to bag his first goal only to pick up another hamstring problem shortly after. He’ll be eager to put all that behind him to challenge Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths in attack.

Shved is so far untested in competitive action and from Lennon’s words it sounds like his debut could come over the next couple of weeks.

One player completely absent from Celtic’s summer preparations is also closing in on a return, although still has a bit of work to do to make it back into Lennon’s plans.

Tom Rogic missed the squad’s trip to Austria for a training camp but shouldn’t be a long-term absentee as long as he brings his fitness levels up.

Asked about the 26-year-old, the Hoops boss explained: “He’s doing a lot of rehab work at the minute. I can’t give you a timescale on that, it’s not a long-term injury but in terms of his conditioning he’s missed a lot of the pre-season work and he has to catch up with that.”

The Australian international has a lot to prove given he missed much of last season through injury and because of international duty.

Having never started more than 30 games in a single season for the club, he needs to show he can be a consistent and reliable pick in attacking midfield ahead of Ryan Christie.

Rogic’s quality on the ball and ability to produce magical moments will ensure he gets plenty of chances, but playing catch up isn’t the start to the season he’d have been hoping for.