Manager ‘heartbroken’ as Celtic star set to miss rest of year through injury

The international break is over and Celtic return to action this weekend as Dundee visit Celtic Park in their latest Scottish Premiership fixture.

The Hoops will then have their first taste of European action this season as they travel to Feyenoord on Tuesday for their opening UEFA Champions League group stage match. Brendan Rodgers is already dealing with a handful of injury problems and he has been dealt a significant blow.

Liel Abada reportedly suffered a training ground injury while away with the Israeli national side that was set to rule him out for a month. However, the latest reports coming out of Israel are now saying that the 21-year old could be out of action for up to five months.

That length of injury would see him miss the rest of the first half of the Scottish Premiership season as well as all of Celtic’s Champions League group stage fixtures. It is also a blow for Israel who have given themselves a real shot at reaching next year’s UEFA European Championship finals in Germany.

They currently sit third in their qualifying group, just one point behind second placed Romania and three behind leaders Switzerland, with all teams having played six of their ten matches. With automatic qualification within their grasp, boss Alon Hazan is said to be ‘heartbroken’ that Abada will miss their remaining four qualifying matches.

After picking up the knock during international training the winger was reportedly sent back to Celtic Park for further assessment for what was apparently thought to be a minor thigh muscle strain. However, the latest reports say that he will undergo a scan this week to determine the full extent of the issue with the worst case scenario meaning he may not return to action until February or March 2024.

Speaking in his media conference on Thursday, Brendan Rodgers said: “He’s gone to London today for a scan, but we think it’s going to be around three to four months. He picked up an injury at the end of training in a shooting exercise. So it’s a real shame for us because he’s done well over pre-season and as you can see, he’s started a lot of the game since I’ve been here. We’re really disappointed.

“I’d rather have it now, I think that when we went into our game against Rangers, it was well documented the players that were missing and everything else. But the glue that keeps us together always is our togetherness, personality and organisation. When we have that, whoever represents Celtic will hopefully have those qualities.”