Celtic star ruled out for the season in bitter injury blow for Martin O’Neill | Football | Sport

Martin O’Neill has delivered a crushing blow to Celtic supporters by revealing it’s highly unlikely they’ll witness Jota in action this campaign. The Portuguese sensation has been sidelined since sustaining a cruciate ligament injury during last April’s title-clinching victory at Tannadice. Previous manager Brendan Rodgers had initially predicted the fan favourite would be absent for around nine months, targeting a possible February return.

However, O’Neill has dashed hopes of seeing the 26-year-old back on the field before next season. He provided an update on Jota’s fitness on Tuesday alongside other long-term casualties Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Callum Osmand.

O’Neill revealed: “Obviously, I’d like to bolster the squad. I don’t see, for instance, in terms of the long-term injuries, I don’t see Jota being back this season.”

On Johnstone, he added: “I think that Alistair Johnston would probably make a fight back, and he’s hoping to be maybe sometime in March, and that would be great if that’s the case.

“But the longer-term injuries, I don’t see it.”

O’Neill recently warned that Celtic would be in ‘serious trouble’ if they failed to strengthen their squad in the January window, with the Irishman targeting reinforcements.

“I am hopeful we are going to get some people in,” he said. “But just when you think that something might happen, things change around.

“We obviously need to do it, even just to give help to the boys. Because this week was the only free week we have had since I’ve come to the football club.

“And from here on to I don’t know how long, we’re going midweek each time. So there’ll be no respite. If we pick up injuries to really key players here, we could be in serious trouble.

“We need some people in. And we are honestly working on it. It doesn’t seem as if you believe me, but we’re actually working on it.”