Ange Postecoglou will make an eleventh hour call on Jota after the Celtic boss confirmed the Portuguese start is a major doubt for the Champions League clash with RB Leipzig.
The Aussie played down fears over the former Benfica man when he was taken off at half-time during the champions’ last-gasp win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, saying it was down to “fatigue”.
But now the Celtic boss admits Jota – who missed training on Monday morning – is “sore” and toiling ahead of the showdown with the Germans. He said: "We'll make a decision tomorrow. He's a bit sore. All the players are important in different ways. With the short turnaround it's not unusual for someone not to be right the day before a game when we've got such a quick turnaround. It's just a matter of whether he's right or not. If he's right we'll play him and if not then he'll miss out."
But there was better news on two others who missed out at Perth. Postecoglou said: "At the weekend (David) Turnbull and (Moritz) Jenz missed out through illness but they look like they will be OK." On the prospect of a good result and performance, he said: "I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive. I don’t know why people think you need one or the other.
"If we put in a good performance, there’s a good chance we’ll get a good result. From my perspective, the reason why we do things the way we do is because we think they’ll give us the best chance of success.
"For us again the focus for us is we put in a strong performance against a good quality of opponent and that will give us the best chance of getting the result we want."
RB Leipzig jumped above the Hoops with a 3-1 win in the Red Bull Arena last week - with Jota scoring for the Scottish Premiership champions - and can end Celtic's hopes of reaching the knockout stage with a win.
Jota has been a key player for the Hoops both on loan last season and this season after his move from Benfica was made permanent with the star making 12 appearances. Celtic are already without skipper Callum McGregor who is out until after the World Cup and the loss of Jota would be a huge blow in a game where the Parkhead side need to avoid defeat to have a chance of reaching the Champions League knockout stage. But there was better news as David Turnbull returned to training.
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