BRENDAN RODGERS faces an anxious wait to see if Nicolas Kuhn will recover from injury for the three-game festive period.
The on-fire German winger missed the scoreless stalemate with Dundee United at Tannadice yesterday with a knee problem he sustained in the Premier Sports League penalty-kick triumph over Rangers at Hampden the previous weekend.
Rodgers brought back Yang Hyun-jun for his second start of the season, but the South Korean was largely anonymous before being hooked in the 61st minute to make way for Luis Palma.
Daizen Maeda switched flanks to accommodate the Honduran on the left, but the change added little to a fairly unimpressive overall display from the champions.
JOY BHOY…winger Nicolas Kuhn races away in triumph after scoring Celtic’s third goal against Rangers at Hampden.
Adding to the manager’s woes is the news evergreen James Forrest will be unavailable for six weeks after his outing in his 24th silverware victory at the national stadium.
Rodgers is now bracing himself for the Boxing Day encounter against Motherwell, the Sunday match against St Johnstone – both at Parkhead – and the January 2 visit to Ibrox.
Kuhn, who has scored 12 goals this season, and Alistair Johnston, suffering with a hip knock, both sat out the match on Tayside where the visitors dropped two points, but are still nine ahead of Philippe Clement’s Govan club ahead of the derby a week on Thursday.
Anthony Ralston replaced the crocked Canadian with Yang in front him him on the right flank, but the Hoops missed the threat of the regular first-team picks.
Kuhn’s situation is a particular concern for the Hoops with the knee injury so far unspecified.
BLANK LOOKS…Brendan Rodgers looks far from satisfied as he applauds the Celtic fans at Tannadice.
Rodgers, speaking to the Daily Mail, admitted: “I don’t know how long Nicolas will be out for.
“Hopefully, it’s not long term.
“He felt a problem with his knee and then he felt a twinge on Saturday. We hope that it’s not too long, but I will find out more on Monday about whether he will be back for Thursday.”
Rodgers added: “Nicolas had been running and moving okay, but he felt a twinge when he passed the ball and we will need to see.
“Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty were ill. Ali should be back for Thursday and we just wanted to give him recovery time. He did really well to play in the Final so we just wanted to rest him.
“Nicolas, we will need to see. He’s been tentative with his knee and we didn’t want to risk that.”
