Celtic announce pre-season trip to Austria and two Parkhead friendlies against English opposition in July

Celtic will return to Austria for a pre-season training camp this summer before hosting two English sides in friendlies at Parkhead, the club has announced.

Ange Postecoglou’s side will play several bounce games during their 10-day trip, further details of which will be confirmed in due course.

The Hoops will then return to Scotland and play two warm-up matches against Championship side Blackburn Rovers and relegated Norwich City in Glasgow.

Celtic previously travelled to Austria in 2019 before going on to complete an unprecedented quadruple treble under former boss Neil Lennon.

They based themselves in the town of Stegersbach and comfortably recorded victories over SC Pinkafield (6-1) and Wiener SC (2-1) on their recent visit, before hopping over the border to Switzerland to play St Gallen in the club’s first ever VAR match.

The match against Blackburn, who will be under new management after confirmation that ex-Celtic and Hibernian boss Tony Mowbray will leave his post at the end of the season, will be held on Saturday, July 16 - kick-off 12.30pm.

Norwich, who were relegated from the Premier League after falling to defeat against Aston Villa at the weekend, will visit Celtic Park on Saturday, July 23 - kick-off 3pm.

Both games will be included in the club’s 2022/23 Season Ticket, with further ticket information to be released shortly.

Meanwhile, Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is set to be rewarded for a string of impressive performances by earning an international recall.

The centre-back will be handed his first call-up to the USA national team in over three years after manager Gregg Berhalter revealed the 24-year-old will be included in his next squad.

His return to the international scene will come at a crucial time as Carter-Vickers aims to secure a spot on the plane to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The on-loan Tottenham Hotspur star has been one of Ange Postecoglou’s standout perfomers this season, capping his excellent form by scoring the winning goal against Old Firm rivals Rangers at Ibrox last month.

Carter-Vickers is on the verge of helping Celtic reclaim the Scottish Premiership title and he will now look to add to his eight senior caps for the United States, the last of which came in a friendly against Jamaica in 2019.