Emilio Izaguirre has pulled out of the Honduras squad to face Equador in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The left-back has been in outstanding form for Celtic since his summer move but picked up a muscle strain during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox.
Rather than face a gruelling trip involving three connections the defender has stayed behind at Lennoxtown and will receive intensive treatment ahead of Celtic’s trip to Dundee United on Sunday.
Izaguirre has been one of Celtic’s best players this season after being signed from Motagua for £800,000.
The draw at Ibrox entended Celtic’s unbeaten run to 15 matches but despite his side’s impressive form Neil Lennon is determined to ensure that his players continue to improve.
“They’ve found a level of consistency and quality to their play which maybe wasn’t there earlier in the season,” the Celtic boss explained.
“There’s a confidence running through the team, but it’s not a misplaced confidence – they’re working very, very hard, with and without the ball.
“It’s satisfying but we’ve won nothing yet. We’re not getting carried away with ourselves.
“We’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made but we’ve got a tough month ahead of us. We’re going to need all our players, all our squad.”
Lennon was voted SPL manager of the month for January but deflected the praise towards his backroom staff.
He said: “It’s a testament to how well the players have done in the last five or six weeks. It’s not just about me. It’s about the backroom staff, the medical staff and the sports science department.
“Then there’s the recruitment with John Park at the head of that and they’ve got to take a lot of credit in finding the players and bringing them to the table so that we can make a decision on them.
“There’s great unity among the club at the minute, not just with the players and the staff but with the supporters as well as they’ve been phenomenal for us the last five or six weeks.”
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