David Turnbull is facing a two month lay-off after injuring his hamstring in the League Cup Final victory over Hibs.
The midfielder had played more football than anyone else in the Celtic squad when he pulled up during the first half of the Hampden showdown.
During December Celtic have been hampered by a run of similar injuries with Jota, Albian Ajeti and Kyogo Furuhashi all being sidelined.
Earlier in the season Tom Rogic and Carl Starfelt were out for a month with hamstring injuries but it seems that Turnbull’s is much more severe.
The Scotsman reports:
Celtic attacker David Turnbull looks set to be sidelined for at least the next two months as a result of the hamstring issue that forced him off during the club’s League Cup final success on December 19.
The midfielder was left distressed as he received treatment on the pitch in the 27th minute of the Hampden decider, before television images captured him in floods of tears as he sat on the bench after being replaced by Nir Bitton.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou put the strain sustained down to fatigue, stating the 22-year-old had “suffered from the amount of games we are playing at the moment … we have suffered because we have not been able to rotate”. Now, it has emerged that Turnbull’s suffering may not be short-term with the injury understood to be of sufficient severity to require an extended period on the sidelines.
The minimum two-month timescale would count Turnbull out of the rescheduled table-topping hosting of Rangers for Postecoglou’s side on February 2, and the Conference League encounters to determine the full line-up for the last 16 stage of the new competition.
These will see Celtic entertain Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt on February 17, before contesting the Scandinavian return leg a week later.
Two months on from the League Cup Final would take Turnbull to the home match against Dundee BEFORE the Europa Conference home tie against Bodo Glint.
Ange Postecoglou can call on Nir Bitton and James McCarthy to step into the midfield which puts Callum McGregor into a more advanced midfield role.
During the close season Celtic lost Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham and Ryan Christie from their midfield options with only McCarthy coming in as a replacement.
Turnbull has almost been an ever-present since making his breakthrough last December at home to Lille but over a critical period of the season Postecoglou will have to do without the former Motherwell man.
