NIR BITTON is out of the Israel side for the crucial Euro 2020 play-off match against Scotland next Thursday after picking up an ankle knock in Celtic's win over Sarajevo last night.

The defender was caught late in a challenge in the early stages of the 1-0 victory in Sarajevo, and had to be replaced by countryman Hatem Elhamed.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has therefore immediately ruled him out of his club's game against St Johnstone on Sunday, and the Hampden showdown later in the week.

“He’s badly twisted his ankle," Lennon said. "There’s swelling, so we need to wait and see.

“We can’t diagnose it until the swelling goes down which will take a day or two. But he’s out for Sunday and certainly out for the qualifiers as well.

“He’s been playing brilliantly. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, maybe just three or four weeks.”

Lennon meanwhile thinks that the win over Sarajevo can be just the thing to allow his team to get over the Champions League hangover that has been playing on their minds since their qualifying defeat to Ferencvaros.

“We could’ve won the game by more, but they were strong and well organised," he said. "They were better than Riga but we got better as the game went on.

“We’ve been playing well recent games - that’s three clean sheets and we’ve won the last seven games in all competitions.

“There was massive pressure on us, but that’s all from the Ferencvaros hangover. That was a game we should’ve won. We dominated that game and lost. We only had ourselves to blame. So, we’ve had to suffer the last three or four weeks.

“But we’ve won every game since Ferencvaros and the temperament of the players has been fantastic.

“Now the season’s really opened up for us. I think this will spark our season."