CELTIC have received positive news on injured trio Kristoffer Ajer, Nit Bitton and Hatem Elhamed ahead of their Ladbrokes Premiership match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park tonight.
Centre half Ajer, who missed the William Hill Scottish Cup game against Partick Thistle at Firhill on Saturday evening, will return for the league meeting with Alex Dyer’s side in Ayrshire.
Meanwhile, Bitton, who limped off early on against Ian McCall’s team at the weekend, has only strained his hamstring, not torn as was initially believed, and should be back in a fortnight.
Elsewhere, Elhamed, who suffered a groin injury during the Scottish champions’ winter training camp in Dubai, is also due to be back in action earlier than Parkhead medical staff had expected.
“He (Ajer) is okay and is in the squad for Wednesday night,” said Lennon. “Nir’s had a scan and is going to be out for a couple of weeks. It’s not a complete tear but it’s a hamstring strain.
“It’s not ideal. It happened in the first few minutes after being out for a few weeks, but at least it’s not as bad as we first feared.
"Elhamed has got some good news. The initial injury we first thought maybe isn't as bad. We can't put a time limit on it but it's not as bad as we first thought."
Lennon also provided an injury update on Southampton loanee Mohamed Elyounoussi.
"He should be fit by the end of the month,” he said. "He's out on the grass now doing some fitness work. It's been a long one for him after coming back a little bit early for the cup final.
"He has a stress reaction on his foot and after the cup final is flared up again. It's not been able to settle but hopefully he'll be okay by the end of the month."
Elsewhere, Lennon confirmed that Jozo Siumunovic could feature against Kilmarnock this evening despite the game being on an artificial pitch.
“He is in the squad and in contention to play,” he said. “I had a chat with him about playing on artificial pitches and he has made himself available. I thought he looked very good on Saturday, so I was pleased with that.
“In certain situations, such as with Jozo for example, you have to take it (the astroturf surface) into consideration. Tom Rogic is another one who has had knee issues before.
“So we have to assess it and think about it but at the moment, we want to be as strong as possible. We have a few injuries, so we want to pick the strongest team we can on Wednesday.”
Lennon confirmed that Celtic are continuing their search for another centre half and expressed hope they could complete the signing of Ismaila Soro from Bnei Yehuda in the coming days.
“He’s still in Israel,” he said. “He’s gone through the medical and there is still the work permit and other paperwork stuff to be done. They do it a little bit differently in Israel. Our physio is out there and by all accounts, the medical has gone fine.”
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