DEDRYCK Boyata could make his comeback for injury-ravaged Celtic in their Ladbrokes Premiership match against Hibernian at Parkhead tomorrow evening after returning to training yesterday.
The Belgian centre half has been sidelined with a groin problem since the William Hill Scottish Cup triumph over Airdrieonians last month.
However, Chris Davies, the Glasgow club’s assistant manager, confirmed the 28-year-old defender will be considered for the league match against Hibs.
Having Boyata in the starting line-up will be a huge boost for the Scottish champions as manager Brendan Rodgers is missing a raft of important first team players.
Ryan Christie (hip), Odsonne Edouard (foot), James Forrest (hamstring) Mikael Lustig (Achilles) are all doubtful starters after picking up knocks in the 2-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Daniel Arzani, Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Filip Benkovic, Leigh Griffiths, Eboue Kouassi, Olivier Ntcham, Anthony Ralston, Tom Rogic, Kieran Tierney are all currently sidelined.
Kristoffer Ajer, the Norwegian centre half who was red carded in injury-time at the weekend, will also be suspended for the Hibs game.
“Boyata trained today having been out for a couple of weeks,” said Davies. “We’ll see how he reacts to that and then see what his availability is like for Wednesday night.
“As he’s been injured for a couple of weeks we’ll have to see. He’d a slight groin issue so we’d to get that right.
“He brings experience. We’ve obviously got that in midfield, but he’s an important player for us. The sooner he’s back fit and playing again the better.”
Davies added: “Benkovic is out and will be for a little period – probably months rather than weeks.
“From the St Johnstone game, James Forrest is having a scan on his hamstring. I’d be very surprised if he’s available on Wednesday, we’re not sure yet about the severity of it. It’s really difficult to tell.
“Odsonne Edouard had a bad knock on his foot and he’s a big doubt. It’s sore when you kick the bottom of somebody’s boot but we’re hoping he can improve day by day.
“Mikael Lustig is also doubtful with an Achilles problem, but we’ll see how he reacts. The physios are looking at x-rays if need be.
“Ryan Christie also took a bad blow to his hip so it’s about monitoring and assessing him. So we’ll see how he is and make a call on him in the next 24-48 hours.
“Kieran’s outside, but is still in the rehabilitation phase. It’s going to take a bit of time for him to really build up to that team training and eventually availability for games. He’s still a few weeks off at least before training with the group.”
Celtic signed Bayo and brought in Oliver Burke, Jeremy Toljan and Timothy Weah on loan during the January transfer window.
“We have a full team’s worth of players out injured at the moment so we need depth in our squad,” said Davies. “We have quality coming in and ready to perform.
“The idea was to bring in quality players who could make an impact. What we are seeing now is the importance of having the depth of squad. When you have 60 matches per season you are going to need that.”
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