ANGE POSTECOGLOU faces a sweat over the fitness of Anthony Ralston who was forced off in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Livingston last night.
The Scotland international defender lasted only 11 minutes of the second-half before finally admitting defeat as he was replaced while in obvious distress.
Greg Taylor immediately switched flanks and Argentinian Alexandro Bernabei came on at left-back in a quick reshuffle of the back four.
Now Postecoglou has a dilemma as he prepares for the visit of St Johnstone to the east end of Glasgow on Christmas Eve for the last piece of action at Parkhead in 2022.
Josip Juranovic is due back next week from his exertions for Croatia in the World Cup Finals in Qatar and is ruled out while £3.5million signing from CF Montreal, Alistair Johnston, the Canada No.2, is not available until his transfer is ratified on January 1 2023.
The Hoops boss, though, is refusing to panic over a potential problem and, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “I don’t think it’s anything too bad.
“He had a bang on the nose and his back seized up after a challenge, but I’ll wait until after the physio has seen him.”
The champions lost the relentless drive of Ralston after he went off. He and Liel Abada were dovetailing well until their double-act was interrupted with the injury.
The Hoops will hope to be at full strength for the challenge of the Perth club as they go into the encounter with a 100 per cent home league record in this campaign with eight successive victories.
WINNING IN THE RAIN WITH KYOGO
