Neil Lennon has expressed his concern about Mikey Johnston’s injury absence.
The winger was outstanding in Celtic’s 2-0 win at Ibrox on September 1 but hasn’t played since.
Johnston has missed two Scotland u-21 call-ups and will be out of action when Celtic take on Ross County looking to get back to winning ways.
The winger was initially expected to be missing for three weeks but there is no guarantee that he will be back in action this month.
Speaking to The Sun Lennon admitted:
Mikey is still struggling with the hip and groin area. It’s a bit of a concern. We’ve missed that dynamism. He’s a bit frustrated as it’s been so slow, but it’s not going to be long-term.
The symptoms that Lennon has described sound concerningly similar to the injury reports on Kieran Tierney in December.
Although the defender returned to play at the end of February his mobility was affected as he dropped in and out of the side before missing out on pre-season training before joining Arsenal.
With mobility all-important to Johnston there is no danger of him being rushed back with Mo Elyounoussi and Scott Sinclair capable of stepping in to play on the left wing.