Patrick Roberts has resumed full training and is likely to be in the Celtic squad that faces Hapoel Beer Sheva next week.
The on loan Manchester City winger picked up a hamstring strain after half an hour of Celtic’s 2-1 Champions League play-off win over Astana.
Fears that he could be sidelined for more than a month have been dismissed with Brendan Rodgers delighted to have the Londoner back on board.
“Patrick Roberts is back in training, back earlier than we thought,” the hoops boss told the club website. “He’s made a great recovery from his injury so he’s back today so we’ll see what his availability is.
“We’ll see how he shapes up but certainly that’s great news for us because as the team was progressing and developing, so was he as a young individual. When he got injured he was in a real good moment in pre-season but thankfully he hasn’t been too long out and has been working very hard.
“He looks lean and fit and athletic and he has wonderful technical ability so it’ll be wonderful to have him back in the squad.”
Roberts return from injury is a timely boost and further increases competition for places.
Three days after the win over Astana Celtic moved to sign Scott Sinclair with the former Aston Villa man enjoying a flying start to his Celtic career.
The prospect of Roberts and Sinclair in the same team is a mouthwatering one with Celtic fans looking forward to seeing another aspect of Rodgers’ team taking shape.