Ryan Christie was the only name missing from the Celtic side that beat Jablonec in midweek for today’s win over Hearts.
With 16 days left in the transfer window and the midfielder out of contract in January it wasn’t difficult to create speculation when the Celtic side was announced at 1.45pm today.
Liel Abada was still missing from today’s Celtic side but speaking to Radio Scotland pre-match Ange Postecoglou had a straight forward explanation for Christie’s absence:
Ryan got a knock the other night and pulled up sore. It’s best for us to leave him out today.
Christie did take a late knock against Jablonec but shrugged it off to complete the 90 minutes.
Postecoglou was able to use five substitutes today without the quality on the park being noticeably reduced with James McCarthy making his debut.
None of the changes were in defence where Celtic are still short of options with just over a fortnight left in the transfer window.
Before the window closes Celtic face AZ Alkmaar home and away plus a Glasgow derby at Ibrox, by the end of the month Postecoglou will know exactly the strengths and weaknesses of the squad he has assembled.
Celtic have until 11pm on Tuesday to register any new signings to face Alkmaar but it is probably too late to bring in anyone likely to have an impact on those matches after just a couple of training sessions.
