Celtic give Carl Starfelt and Tom Rogic injury update ahead of League Cup semi-final

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has suggested that both Tom Rogic and Carl Starfelt are “touch and go” to make their returns from injury in time for the club’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against St Johnstone a week on Saturday.
Celtic's  Tom Rogic hasnt been ruled out for the club's Scottish Cup semi-final by Ange Postecoglou after being lost to a hamstring problem a fortnight ago by Ange Postecoglou, who remains "hopeful" that Carl Starfelt could also be fit to face Hibs after suffering a similar problem just before the international break. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)Celtic's  Tom Rogic hasnt been ruled out for the club's Scottish Cup semi-final by Ange Postecoglou after being lost to a hamstring problem a fortnight ago by Ange Postecoglou, who remains "hopeful" that Carl Starfelt could also be fit to face Hibs after suffering a similar problem just before the international break. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)
Celtic's Tom Rogic hasnt been ruled out for the club's Scottish Cup semi-final by Ange Postecoglou after being lost to a hamstring problem a fortnight ago by Ange Postecoglou, who remains "hopeful" that Carl Starfelt could also be fit to face Hibs after suffering a similar problem just before the international break. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Both players were lost to hamstring problems in the fortnight leading up to the current international break and it seemed that the Hampden date might come too soon for them. But Postecoglou has claimed this need not prove to be the case.

“Carl and Tommy are trying hard to make the semi-final next weekend,” the Celtic manager said. “It’s obviously an important game but we also have an important one four days later [in travelling to Germany for a pivotal Europa League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen]. Tommy is probably a little bit ahead of Carl at the moment, but I wouldn’t rule either of them out right now. We won’t put them at risk so it’s probably going to be one of those touch and go ones. If they don’t make the semi-final, I’d think they will probably be ready for the Leverkusen game.”

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The timescales for seeing Celtic’s long-term casualties again appears less clear, meanwhile. Christopher Jullien hasn’t played this year after suffering knee ligament damage last December while Greg Taylor was sidelined with a shoulder problem two months ago that required surgery. There will be no quick sightings of either, according to the Celtic manager.

“Chris and Greg won’t make the semi-final and it might be into December for them,” he said. “I don’t like putting an end date on it, as they could surprise me and come back earlier, or they could get a setback and be longer. But they are both working hard and they are both looking good.

“They have different hurdles to overcome. With Greg it’s about getting clearance for his shoulder. We have had good news on that. The last update is that it has healed well, so as soon as he gets the all-clear he is pretty much ready to play. With Chris it’s a little more difficult as he will need some sort of game-time and it’s about picking the right moment to put him in.”

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