Martin O'Neill has described Cameron Carter-Vickers' return from injury as being like a new signing. The American international's last season was cut short by an Achilles injury in October, and he was not available during either of O'Neill's interim spells in charge.
Carter-Vickers is now set to start the campaign as Celtic's first-choice centre-back. O'Neill is hopeful the defender can return to the form that made him arguably the best defender in Scotland.
Getting back to his best
“He’s getting there game by game. Obviously, he had a serious injury. I’d have to go back and watch some games in the past when he was at his best, but the coaching staff are telling me they think he can get back to what he was, which would be very encouraging. I’ve never had him, so I genuinely don’t know what he’s like. I’ve seen him play from a distance, but you don’t know until you’re working with somebody. His attitude is very strong, he wants to do well. Each day he’s training – there are only two times out of all the sessions we’ve had, morning and afternoon, that he’s missed out.”
His return is timely. With Auston Trusty only just back from his World Cup break and Liam Scales serving a two-game suspension, Dane Murray will partner Carter-Vickers at the heart of the defence against Dundee tomorrow night.
Transfer priority
O'Neill is still pressing ahead with other transfer business, but he insists that bringing in another centre-back is not currently at the top of his list.
“No, not at the minute. Big Dane is two years behind because of injuries. I think he’s got a lot of potential. Scales and Trusty – yeah. With Carter-Vickers out last year, it was a bit of a problem because Trusty ended up playing on the right-hand side. With Trusty back now, hopefully we’ve got a bit of balance.”
Trusty and Nygren updates
Trusty, who was given extended time off to deal with a personal issue, reported back to Lennoxtown earlier this week. However, the USA stopper is unlikely to be thrown straight into the flag night showdown.
“I’ll have a look. He’s trained; he’s been here since Monday. Physically, he’s never in bad condition. I just want to see how he’s feeling. We’ll see how Trusty is in the next couple of days.”
Swedish playmaker Benjamin Nygren could also be available after recovering from a knock. O'Neill said: “He’s okay, he’s been training. It was a bit niggly, but he’s said he can run it off.”
