NEIL Lennon has admitted Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard has little chance of being available for the Europa League match against AC Milan on Thursday.
Edouard tested positive for coronavirus on international duty with the France Under-21 side and was ruled out of the Premiership match against Rangers this afternoon.
The Parkhead club were also without Nir Bitton, Ryan Christie and Hatem Elhamed due to Covid-19 and lost 2-0 to their city rivals, who have played a game more, to fall four points adrift in the league.
Lennon is hopeful that Christie, who was forced to self-isolate for 14 days after his Scotland team mate Stuart Armstrong tested positive before the Israel game earlier this month, could return for the AC Milan match.
But the Northern Irishman is doubtful that Bitton, Edouard or Elhamed will make it.
“He (Edouard) had cardiac and blood tests and we’ll see how he is," he said. "He’s not trained for nearly two weeks and only got back yesterday.
“We can’t take a chance on anyone’s health and he wasn’t ready anyway. We knew he had no chance but couldn’t say it publicly.
“I doubt he’ll be okay for Thursday. It’s not like we can just bring him back in for training. He has to be assessed to see how much the virus has taken out of him.
“It’ll be the same for Bitton and Hatem, but Ryan will hopefully get the all clear this week.
“(Christopher) Jullien is still struggling with his back, it’s an ongoing issue we need to get sorted.”
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