Martin O'Neill has confirmed that Jota could finally make his long-awaited Celtic comeback this weekend. The winger played 45 minutes for the Hoops in a bounce game during the international break but hasn't made a competitive appearance for the club since suffering a devastating ACL injury in April 2025, just three months after rejoining Celtic from Rennes.
But O'Neill says there is every chance the former Portugal U21 star could feature when the Premiership leaders go to Motherwell on Sunday.
Fitness updates on five other stars
However, the Irishman has revealed Cameron Carter-Vickers faces a late call over his fitness ahead of the trip to Fir Park and also provided updates on Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand, Yang and Chelsea loanee Landon Emenalo - who is also recovering from an injury picked up with the Premier League giants.
Asked whether Jota could get minutes on Sunday, the veteran replied: "Every possibility. He's been training with us for some considerable time but that's the first time he's played in a semi-competitive game."
"Jota's trained a bit more often than Alistair which is really good. We had a bounce game which was really good. Alistair's just making his way back, so we just want to be careful. Young Callum Osmand is doing the same."
CCV strain and Emenalo recovery
"Yang's been out (training) but CCV has a bit of a strain at the minute. We'll see how he is." On Emenalo, he added: "A bit of luck he'll come up tomorrow and start next week. That's pleasing to hear."
The Hoops are hoping to bounce back from consecutive losses to arch rivals Rangers in the league and cup that forced gaffer O'Neill to consider his position during the international break.
O'Neill defends system changes
The Celtic manager continued: "No one ever asks me when we win our games. You're entitled to ask me when we lose football matches. I don't know about 'clarity'. I think I've got a reasonable command of the English language to have a clear view of what we're saying or doing."
"Sometimes you may change the structure, but I had to remind people, in the most important game of the season last year against Hearts, when we were pressing and pressing for the final goal to win the game, we have to gamble, so we went three at the back. We never practiced three at the back but won the biggest game of the season."
"There might even be a player or two who might not have even known we played that. So you've got to be ready. I've been a manager a long time now where we've changed systems and come up trumps - and also been beaten."
