Celtic forward Callum Osmand is expected to recover from a hamstring scare in time for Thursday's must-win Europa League meeting with Celta Vigo, manager Martin O'Neill has confirmed.
Osmand scored twice as Celtic thrashed Hearts 7-1 at Celtic Park, but was withdrawn at half-time with a hamstring issue. O'Neill insisted the youngster's injury problems have not resurfaced after he battled back from two lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Osmand fitness boost for Europa League clash
O'Neill said the substitution was precautionary and expects Osmand to be available for the Celta Vigo game. The former Fulham player is part of Celtic's European squad as the Hoops look to recover from defeats to Ferencvaros and Benfica.
O'Neill said: "He had a hamstring problem at halftime. I'm not surprised really because he's not played that much. It was more precautionary than anything else."
O'Neill confirms Yang and Carter-Vickers miss out
However, O'Neill confirmed that Yang and Cameron Carter-Vickers will not feature against Celta Vigo. Yang is back training but is not ready for a week or two, while Carter-Vickers could return for the Hibs game.
O'Neill said: "Yang is doing well, he's back on the grass as they say now, but no, he'll not be ready for a week or two yet. Cameron, the earliest would probably be seeing him would be the Hibs game."
Celts need win after European setbacks
Celtic bounced back from their defeat in Lisbon with a record 7-1 victory over Hearts, moving four points clear at the top of the Premiership. O'Neill is confident the Hoops can still reach the knockout stages but stressed the importance of winning Thursday's home game.
O'Neill said: "We need to win the game because it's a home game, we have to try and win. We lost ground in the Ferencvaros game, so we got to win. And if we could that would definitely give us a big lift. If we don't, that would be three games gone, that's a long way back from there."
Kieran Tierney and Camilo Duran also scored against Hearts, with Benjamin Nygren netting a double alongside Osmand's brace. Celtic took advantage of Rangers' slip-up at Dundee to extend their lead at the top.
O'Neill said: "It's probably too early to worry about a message. But I thought we played really well in the game, really well. This time last week we created a lot of chances against Motherwell, didn't take them, today we took them, and that was probably the most pleasing thing."
