Ange Postecoglou will give Josip Juranovic every chance to make his Celtic return against Hibs - but admits it's "unlikely" the Croatian World Cup star will be ready to play.
The right-back is due in Glasgow early this week after helping his country secure a third-placed finish at Qatar 2022, although he missed their bronze medal play-off win over Morocco through injury.
His absence, and that of Anthony Ralston, forced Postecoglou to get creative in deploying Reo Hatate at right-back for Saturday's 4-1 win over St Johnstone, in which the Japan international notched a double.
And the Celtic manager is prepared to field him there again should neither Juranovic nor Ralston be deemed fit for the trip to Easter Road on Wednesday.
"It’s Monday or Tuesday, we’ll get Juranovic back in," Postecoglou said. "He’s had a slight injury. It’s unlikely he’ll be available for Hibs, but we’ll see. Until we set eyes on him, we’ll see what condition he’s in. We won’t throw him back in unless he’s absolutely ready to go. We’ll see with Tony. He improved on Friday and reports are he improved on Saturday. So, we’ll give him every chance. We know what Tony’s like, he’ll give himself every chance.
“Reo was great, he handled it really well. I spoke to him about it on Friday and he was all-in.
“I remember watching him play left-back earlier in his career in Japan. But he’s not a full-back, he’s a midfielder.
“I thought, with the way the game was going to go, he would give us a hell of a lot going forward with his passing and creativity. Defensively, it was just a matter of him being disciplined. He was next to Cameron Carter-Vickers and he’s a good guy to have alongside you in a new role. Credit to him, he did really well.”
Postecoglou was left bemused by David Turnbull being shown a red card in the final moments after a high challenge on Saints keeper Remi Matthews. Referee Kevin Clancy initially brandished yellow, but decided to send the midfielder off after consulting the pitchside VAR monitor, and he now faces a two match ban.
“Look, I don’t think there was any intent," said Postecoglou, "You saw with the reaction of the players, it’s usually a good indication. He didn’t try to hurt the boy, there was a coming together.
“The referee handled it well with a yellow card but now with VAR we’ve got other eyes on it. We’ll have to take whatever sanctions there are, but I don’t think Bull had any intent.”
