Cameron Carter-Vickers could return for Celtic AHEAD of schedule in a major boost to the Scottish champions.
The key defender is making solid progress on his recovery from knee surgery after missing the last month of the season to go under the knife in order to get back as quickly as possible for the defence of the Hoops' Treble and for the return of Champions League football. The 25-year-old was pencilled in for an end of August return, but the Daily Record state he is targeting the league opener with Ross County on August 5.
The centre-back was one of Ange Postecoglou's star men last term and is expected to be vital for Brendan Rodgers as he begins his second stint as manager. In a further boost he has jetted out to Portugal alongside his team-mates but it is expected he will only take part in light training at the warm weather camp and be given time to get up to speed.
Celtic's big hitters will all return from international duty to team-up with the rest of the squad as the hard work gets underway. The likes of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi had all been on international duty well into June.
Rodgers can't wait to get down to business with his full side with bounce games arranged in the Algarve before they head off on their pre-season tour to Japan. Speaking about the non international players and youth prospects that have been already in training, he said: “Normally, now in the modern game, very rarely do you get your players back at the one time. So that always gives you a chance to see the young players, and I’ve got to say I’ve been really impressed with, both the established guys in the first-team squad.
“They’ve been excellent, their attitude is outstanding and they’ve come back in really, really good condition, so they are back already fit. That gives us the chance to really build on that, and the young players.
“Of course a lot of them I haven’t known and they’ve been pleasantly surprising and really, really good. Sometimes a young player can come in and suffer with the intensity of training with the first team, but they’ve all coped really, really well and that’s been pleasing.”
