Postecolgou reveals long term Celtic injury blow

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Karamoko Dembele is out long term with no timeline for his return.

The teenager suffered a bad injury against Bristol City in the third match of Celtic’s pre-season trip to Wales and looks like he could be missing until later this year.

The precise nature of the injury is unknown or whether surgery is required but after a promising start under the new management it looks like it’ll be a while before Karamoko gets another chance to impress.

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Both were really unfortunate with their injuries. Karamoko is probably, he is a bit of a long term one, he is a fair bit away in terms of rehab. Mikey is getting closer, he’s working hard at training and we’re kind of hoping that post-international break he’ll be able to join the group and begin training.

We’ve obviously got to be a little bit careful with him. Both wingers, both exciting kind of players that I think will fit into the style of play that we want to play. I’m keen to have them back involved, obviously but with all these things we’ve got to be guided by the medical team and by the players themselves. What we want is to get them back and playing regularly than having any more set-backs.

The return of a fully fit Johnston would be a big boost to Postecoglou with the Australian putting a strong emphasis on supply from wide areas.

Ryan Christie and James Forrest have been used on the left wing but neither would put that down as their most productive position.

Chris Jullien is Celtic’s only other long-term injury with no timeline for the likely return of the French defender.