Celtic star to miss Stuttgart clash ahead of Rangers battle as 'weakened team' theory meets emphatic verdict

Celtic hope to keep their Europa League dreams alive as they travel to Stuttgart with a major deficit to overturn in their knockout play-off second leg.

The Hoops were beaten 4-1 at home by the Bundesliga side last week and will look to turn thing around with a place in the last 16 of the competition up for grabs. It is an important week for the Scottish champions, who face arch-rivals Rangers in a crunch Old Firm clash at Ibrox in the Premiership on Sunday which might determine which of the two sides has the best chance of chasing down leaders Hearts.

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill is in charge until the end of the season and spoke to reporters regarding an injury update ahead of Thursday evening’s clash in Stuttgart.

O’Neill confirms Araujo absence for Stuttgart clash

Reported by The Herald, O’Neill reported that there will be one significant new absentee on Thursday evening in the shape of Julian Araujo. The 24-year-old right-back arrived on loan from Bournemouth in January and has made 10 appearances so far for the Hoops, but will be absent through injury in Stuttgart and is also a doubt for the Old Firm derby this weekend.

O’Neill updated reporters: "The preparations have been absolutely fine. Everybody except Julian Araujo, I think, has travelled with us. We'll make decisions on the team tomorrow. We're looking forward to the game, and I think that we've got some travelling fans coming here. They've spent some money, and therefore, we owe it to them.

"It's only Julian who has stayed at home. The rest of everybody else has come."

Emphatic ‘weakened side’ verdict given ahead of crucial week for Celtic

O’Neill continued when asked about team selection, with a pair of crucial matches to come this week which could go a long way to shaping the remainder of Celtic’s season - and whether he will field a weakened side in Stuttgart.

"I'll have a little think about it,” said O’Neill. “We trained this morning, and before we headed here. The lads are in really good form. They're disappointed with the result behind them. We'll get on with it from here on in.

"A weakened side? We've got very, very decent players here at the football club. All players, I think, in the squad have all played in the first team. Whatever side we put out won't be a weakened team because the players are capable of playing.

There's been competition for places since I've been here, certainly before Christmas, at that time. Since then, we've added Tomas and a few others to the squad. So, there's good competition for places."