CHARLIE Mulgrew, the Celtic midfielder, has been ruled out for eight weeks after suffering a recurrence of the hamstring tendon problem which sidelined him for six months last season.
Mulgrew caused a stir when he walked off the pitch towards the end of his side’s 2-1 defeat to Dutch rivals Ajax in a Europa League match at Celtic Park last Thursday night.
The 29-year-old took to social networking site Instagram following the Group A fixture to reveal he had picked up an injury after coming on as a second half substitute against the Dutch club.
Medical staff at the Parkhead club have now discovered he is suffering from the same tendon issue which resulted in him sitting out the second half of the 2014/15 campaign.
The Scotland internationalist, whose appearance against Frank de Boer’s side was his first in over two months, is believed to be relieved the problem is not as severe as he had feared.
However, the continued absence of an experienced first team player like Mulgrew is a blow to Ronny Deila given that Celtic captain Scott Brown is out for three months with a knee injury.
Deila has revealed he will be targeting experienced players during the January transfer window as a result of the loss of senior squad members like Brown and Mulgrew.
The Celtic signing policy for many years has been to target young players with potential who can be developed over a number of years and sold on for a profit.
Mulgrew, who paid a visit to the Royal Children's Hospital in Govan with the rest of the Celtic squad yesterday, explained his decision to leave the field during the Ajax game in great detail last week.
He wrote: "I got the original injury against Aberdeen with three to four minutes to go, stayed on and made the injury worse. Tonight I was running back from the corner and felt something go again.
“I wouldn’t have been able to even jog about the park without making things worse. I’ve played through knocks and injuries many times for Celtic. But until you’ve torn a tendon and realise what it feels like and how playing can be career threatening then you don’t know.
"Looking back, maybe I should’ve sat in the dugout, but my head was gone. I’d worked hard to get back and I am devastated to be out again – especially after last year’s tendon injury in my hamstring which kept me out for six months.”
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