Celtic captain Callum McGregor will be notably absent from the squad in the upcoming Scottish Cup tie against Livingston, as manager Brendan Rodgers exercises caution over the midfielder’s fitness.
The 30-year-old has been contending with an injury connected to his Achilles and calf, which he aggravated during matches against Motherwell and Dundee.
Rodgers emphasised the importance of not rushing McGregor’s return to play, highlighting the potential severity of an Achilles injury. He did ease fears when he confirmed that the player won’t be needing surgery, but he couldn’t give a return date.
“It’s his Achilles connecting with his calf,” Rodgers said to The Herald.
“He played on with it a little bit in the Motherwell game and then played with it in the Dundee game.
“In the first half, he felt it and we wanted to take him off to protect him. It’s something we want to be sure of because the last thing you want is for the Achilles to go. Because if it does, you are out for a long time.
“So we have to monitor it really and then see where he’s at after the international break.
“I don’t believe there is the prospect surgery will be required. Normally when they go for these scans, you will see if there is a tear but there’s nothing like that at all. So, we just have to look at resting it.”
At Tynecastle when McGregor was out injured, but still travelled with the squad, we saw a midfield of O’Riley, Bernardo and Iwata.
The Portuguese midfielder was hooked at halftime to accommodate a formation switch, but he didn’t take his chance from the start, putting in a poor first-half performance.
It will be interesting to see who starts against Livingston. With Daniel Kelly evidently highly thought of by Rodgers could he make his first start?
