Celtic defender Maik Nawrocki has re-emerged after a noteworthy spell on the sidelines. The Polish centre-half picked up a hamstring injury in August and returned to action in late December.

His injury, however, didn’t make him unavailable for the whole of those four months. Indeed, the form of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales at the heart of the backline was something to behold.

The pair kept the likes of Nawrocki and fellow new signing Gustaf Lagerbielke out of the team, and ironically, it was an injury that allowed Nawrocki to return to the fray.

Stephen Welsh pulled up in the Glasgow derby and Nawrocki heeded the call. Since then, he has started two in a row for the champions.

In his recent appearances, Nawrocki has been impressive, particularly given the fact he was on the sidelines for near on four months.

A hamstring kept him out for some of that period, and the player has admitted that Kilmarnock’s artificial pitch on which he suffered the blow was in no way helpful: “The surface was not the best”, he said (The Celtic Way).

“We played 98 minutes or something and it happened in the final seconds but these are the things that can happen.”