Jota injury boost for Celtic as winger given 'a chance' of making big game return

Celtic winger Jota will miss the weekend trip to Hearts but could return for the Champions League showdown with Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.

Ange Postecoglou, the Celtic manager, confirmed that the Portuguese star is back trainng on his own but will not be ready in time to be involved at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Jota has missed Celtic's last three fixtures after picking up a muscle injury following the 2-1 win at St Johnstone on October 8.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Postecoglou confirmed: "Pretty much the same as it has been the last two or three games. The guys closest are Jota and [David] Turnbull coming back but with the team travelling well and being able to rotate there is no point rushing them back.

Celtic winger Jota could return for the midweek Champions League showdown with Shakhtar Donetsk. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

"We’ve got some important games coming up so they should be available next week at some point. The rest of the squad came through Wednesday (at Motherwell) well so we’ll have quite a strong line up tomorrow."

Asked if Jota could return for the vital European clash in midweek, Postecoglou added: "Yeah, a chance but again we don’t want to rush him back, we’ll gauge by how he is going. He is training, he’s away from the main group, we’ll integrate him into team training some point next week."

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