ANGE POSTECOGLOU has provided an update on the fitness of Karamoko Dembele, saying he will look to get the attacker some game time for the Celtic B team instead of rushing him back into first-team action.

Dembele has been out since picking up an ankle injury caused by a horror tackle in a pre-season friendly against Bristol City, but has recently returned to full training.

While happy with his progress, Postecoglou won’t be taking any chances with the 18-year-old.

“He’s been training well,” Postecoglou said.

“He’s been out for quite a long time. We might get him some game time in the B team to start with. We’ll see how he’s tracking.

“He’s training at the moment and getting close to being available.”

There may be an opportunity for Yosuke Ideguchi to return to the side in tomorrow’s game against Raith Rovers after picking up his own ankle knock in the Scottish Cup win over Alloa in the previous round.

Long-term absentee Christopher Jullien will return to the squad, with Postecoglou hinting this tie may be a good chance to get him back into competitive action.

“Everyone got through the game [against Aberdeen] no problems,” he said.

“In terms of availability, there’s still obviously the long-term ones – David Turnbull and Kyogo who are out.

“Josip Juranovic is probably not for the weekend. I’ll probably leave him for the Thursday game. (Yosuke) Ideguchi is now available. He’s had a full week of training and everyone else is okay.

“Christopher Jullien is available. He’ll be in the squad. In terms of game time, whether he starts our not, I’ll have a look after tomorrow’s training but he’s training okay and if we get through training tomorrow he’ll be in the squad.”