NEIL Lennon last night stressed he will have no qualms about starting Mohamed Elyounoussi in the Betfred Cup final even though the Celtic winger hasn’t played in nearly a month.
Elyounoussi, who is on loan at Parkhead from Premier League club Southampton, was sent home early by Norway during the international break last month after suffering a foot injury.
But the winger, who has done superbly during his time in Glasgow and who netted a double in the semi-final against Hibernian, is available for selection once again.
Lennon is confident the £16 million player will be able to return to the starting line-up against Rangers and perform well despite his lack of game time in recent weeks.
“He’s a naturally very fit lad,” he said. “His injury was more of a stress injury. There was no fracture there. We had to rest it because the more he played, the more it deteriorated and it could have turned into a fracture. And that was the one thing we wanted to avoid.
“He has trained the last three or four days and he has been working with the physios and fitness boys all week. If he is fit and available, he has got a good chance to play.
“We haven’t had any conversations with Southampton. It’s not like we are going to run the risk of these guys having serious injuries if we do play them. I’ve got a really top-class medical team who advise us more or less every day on it.”
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