Ange Postecoglou will not put a timescale on Celtic skipper Callum McGregor’s return to action following a serious facial injury.
The Scotland midfielder was substituted in Saturday’s 2-1 Scottish Cup win over Alloa Athletic following an aerial clash with Adam King.
Celtic face Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday night before home games against Dundee United and Old Firm rivals Rangers as the second-half of the season starts to warm up.
Boss Postecoglou, who confirmed midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi would be out more long-term than short-term after sustaining a “significant” ankle injury against the League One part-timers, would only focus on McGregor’s recovery and not the length of absence.
He said: “I don’t put on time frames, I am not in the medical profession.
“It kind of confuses me sometimes when people start talking about games and who is going to be available for certain games.
“At the moment all we are just concerned with is Callum McGregor the person.
“This is not just about football, he has had a significant injury. We just want to make sure he recovers and he feels good.
“Callum is the type of character who will be itching to get back out there but first of all we look after the person’s health and make sure they recover well and in terms of when he gets back to training or playing will be guided by the medical professionals.
“I said yesterday he was feeling better but it doesn’t mean it is not a serious injury.
“It wasn’t just concussion, he obviously got a significant facial injury.
“We will give him the time he needs to recover and be guided by the medical professionals on that and by Callum himself.
“At the moment we are supporting him in his recovery and hopefully he gets back to the set-up here soon.”
Attacker Liel Abada also limped off injured against Alloa but should be fit for the trip to Tynecastle.
Postecoglou was far from impressed by Mouhamed Niang’s tackle on Ideguchi which earned the Alloa player a yellow card from referee Don Robertson.
Niang was on Tuesday hit by a retrospective Scottish Football Association charge of serious foul play, with the hearing set for Thursday.
Postecoglou said: “Since I started managing 25 years ago, there has always been little tweaks in the rules but one consistent theme is they always show us tackles that are deemed to be dangerous or reckless and they will always get punished because it is a big part of the protection of players.
“This year was no different and if you show footage of that tackle, it was exactly the vision we get shown, to know that is going to be handled by the referee.
“I will be honest, I told some of the lads towards the end of the game to just not to bother going into tackles and just look after themselves because I didn’t want any more injuries.
“I just didn’t feel there was control of that environment.
“Sometimes players are just reckless but that doesn’t mean it is excusable.
“We had a player who had a serious injury, there’s a couple of others who were lucky to escape from that and that is why I was disappointed with the way the night panned out.”
