PORTUGUESE playmaker Paulo Bernardo has been ruled OUT of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic plans for around five weeks.
An ankle injury will sideline the former Benfica midfielder for a crucial stage of the campaign.
However, to balance the bad news from the champions this afternoon, Rodgers revealed James Forrest has returned to training.
Bernardo took a knock in the 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers at Parkhead last weekend which forced him out of contention in the matchday squad for the 2-1 Champions League loss against Bayern Munich in midweek.
The former Portugal Under-21 international captain, who joined the Hoops in a £3.5million switch from the Lisbon giants in the summer following a impressive season-long loan, has been ordered to rest and recuperate.
HEAD SCRATCHER…Brendan Rodgers reveals Paulo Bernardo will be sidelined for a lengthy spell. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
Rodgers said: “Paulo will be out for a few weeks. He’s got his ankle in a boot, so maybe four or five weeks.
“He’s done great for us this season and what we’ve tried to do is try to keep the players fit by rotating. Sadly, he’s out for a little while, but we’ve still got good numbers in that position.”
Bernardo was in line to be been given a run-out against Dundee United in the Premiership encounter in Glasgow tomorrow afternoon ahead of Tuesday’s return in Bavaria.
Rodgers will now have to scupper those plans, but it could open the way for another appearance for Luke McCowan against the Tannadice club.
The Irishman, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “There are some positions we’ll freshen up.
“You can’t not look at Tuesday because the turnaround is so fast and we know we’ll have to be at a real high level physically for that game.
“But I also know we need to be at a good physical level for tomorrow.”
Forrest, who injured a foot in the Premier Sports League Cup Final triumph over Rangers at Hampden in mid-December, is not ready to return to the top side, but has started running again and will be eased back into contention.
As well as Europe, Celtic have their eyes on back-to-back successes in the Premiership and the Scottish Cup and Rodgers emphasised his squad are dealing with fatigue as the games pile up.
He added: “Every game is important here. It’s been a real unrelenting schedule, but the players have been brilliant.
“I said to Arne Engels when he came in at the beginning that his one-game-a-week holiday was finished at Augsburg.
“He now knows what I was talking about!”
