Celtic boss Neil Lennon’s concerns about the demands of international football have been reinforced today with news that Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung has been ruled out of action for four weeks.
Park picked up a hamstring strain in training last week and joins Celtic full-back Cha Du-Ri on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
Fortunately for Manchester United Park has retired from international football but there are no signs of the demands on Ki Sung-Yeung letting up.
The Celtic midfielder played in six Asian Cup matches over 22 days during January and was back in interational action last week playing for 90 minutes in Turkey.
Ki has been playing virtually non-stop since the World Cup and is likely to be required again by South Korea for an international double bill at the end of March against Columbia then Serbia/Montenegro.
Speaking about the demands on his players last week Lennon said: “The two South Korean boys were out for a month. They came back for a week then went away again.
“Now the manager has told them they’ve got two more friendlies in March and two more friendlies in June.”
Ki was left on the bench for Sunday’s 3-1 win over Dundee United and could be used sparingly over the coming weeks as Lennon maximises his squad.
Initial fears that Cha could be out of action for the remainder of the season have been eased today with news that the defender could be back playing in a months time.
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Re: Cha, With Wilson being the only right back ( we could also add Juarez ) maybe letting Towell join Hibs on loan wasn’t best either.
Suppose all in hindsight really.
Thanks for the update BTR
Richie Towell is of more value getting first team experience every week with Hibs than waiting around as 3rd or 4th choice right back.
Towell isn’t naturally a RB more similar to Juarez in that he plays further but can move back.
I agree he’s better at hibs playing most weeks learning about winning and losing without the pressure of playing for us.