Alves misses derby clash
Britain Football Soccer - England v Portugal - International Friendly - Wembley Stadium - 2/6/16 Portugal's Bruno Alves fouls England's Harry Kane before being sent off Reuters / Hannah McKay Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Bruno Alves is out of tomorrow’s Glasgow derby.
According to a report on STV.tv the experienced Portuguese man of war has called off with a sore leg.
Alves recently missed an international for Portugal due to a severe bout of gastroenteritis but it’s believed that this absence ISN’T related to that problem.
The defender was the star signing during Pedro Caixinha’s summer shopping spree and arrived at Ibrox on the back of a mediocre season with Calgliari in Serie A. As a Portugeuse internationalist he is the best friend of Cristiano Ronaldo who follows the defender’s progress avidly from his luxury home in Madrid.
Bruno Alves when he realised he was playing @celticfc on Saturday HH pic.twitter.com/FJpi1juxl4
— Celtic Gossip (@CelticGossip) September 22, 2017
The loss of Alves is balanced by the likely debut of Ross McCrorie who has already been described as the best ever Scottish defender.
McCrorie played for 44 minutes against Partick Thistle on Tuesday night and is now in line to start his first top team match.
Celtic should be close to full strength with Moussa Dembele, Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata expected to be fit and available for a match that could see Celtic go eight points clear of their city ‘rivals’.