Neil Lennon confirmed over the weekend he expects his star striker to be ready for Lille on Thursday after missing Celtic’s poor run of form through a positive test for the virus.
Edouard has been out since before the international break and after returning to Celtic, the Frenchman was nowhere near fit to play. The coaches at Lennoxtown have been building up the players fitness over the past ten days and he will now be in contention for the Lille tie on Thursday.
“Elhamed is back in the country on Monday and will go through the screening and cardiac tests. We may not see him for another week.” Lennon told the RecordSport back on Friday.
“Bitton has done a bit of work with the physios and hopefully he’ll be available for Thursday. Edouard probably won’t make Aberdeen but should be OK for Lille.”
Bitton and Elhamed also have their part to play but they are further off from challenging fit a first team place.
James Forrest also being out presents a big problem for Celtic.
We haven’t had our best players on the field for quite a while now and we e been suffering. Hopefully Edouard can provide a spark for Celtic who showed signs they can make things happen up front but then shipped three goals against Aberdeen.
Having defensive reinforcements back will be crucial.
