Neil Lennon will keep a careful eye on training this morning before tomorrow’s flight to Lisbon.
The hoops boss will look closely at the fitness of Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley and Scott Brown ahead of the crucial Champions League qualifier with Benfica.
A score draw would almost certainly put Celtic into the last 16 of the competition while a goal-less draw would leave them as favourites to go through assuming Barcelona take at least a point off Spartka Moscow.
James Forrest is definitely out of contention but Lennon is hopeful that he’ll have the majority of his big names available for Tuesday’s showdown in the Stadium of Light.
“We’ll have (Gary) Hooper, (Scott) Brown and (Joe) Ledley hopefully training tomorrow, so we’re getting players back,” the Celtic boss explained after the 2-0 win at Aberdeen.
“It was great for (Beram) Kayal to get through 90 minutes as well, because he’s had an injury-hit season.”
Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons both picked up knocks at Pittodrie but Lennon expects both players to be available to face Benfica.
“Kris has a dead leg so should be fit for Tuesday,” he added. “Sami felt he could only really last 70 or 80 minutes after playing midweek, but the game will have done him a power of good.”
Miku will also be in the squad that travels to Portugal with Lennon delighted to see fellow new bhoy Lassad Nouioui notch his first goal for the club.
He added: “I thought Lassad’s performance, for the 20 minutes he was on, was superb. He’s a great asset to have and hopefully he can keep injury-free.”
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It’s another huge game against Benfica. There’s a lot at stake and, it seems like all the world and his Snoop Dog will be watching.
I hear that Deputy Dawg has expressed a similar interest in sevco. Makes sense what with all their hillbilly fans.
Huge game after the heroics of the Barcelona game it is asking a lot for the players to attain another similar level of performance. But this is what we will need to get a result. we must cause them problems at the back and snuff out Cardozo or at least the service to him thus making him ineffectual.
I certainly feel Benfica are vulnerable in defence, although they will be strengthened from our game at home. We will also be so much better form the confidence we have gained in previous games.
Win or bust really for Benfica so I expect them to come out all guns blazing, we have to be ready for them and look to hit them hard when we get the chance. Show some composure and play the game at OUR tempo.