Brendan Rodgers has delivered some welcome injury news following Celtic’s 3-1 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle.
The Hoops were missing several key names — including Alistair Johnston, Daizen Maeda, Kelechi Iheanacho, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota — as the loss saw them fall eight points behind at the top of the Premiership table.
However, Rodgers confirmed that Maeda is set to hand Celtic a timely boost by returning to training on Monday.
“Daizen will join training tomorrow,” the Celtic boss said. “Whether he’s ready for midweek, we’ll need to assess that and make sure we bring him back at the right time.”
The manager also offered encouraging updates on Alistair Johnston and Kelechi Iheanacho, revealing that their hamstring injuries are less severe than first feared.
“Alistair and Kelechi aren’t as serious as we thought,” Rodgers added. “They probably won’t be ready for Wednesday, but they should only be out for a few weeks.”
Michael Stewart defends Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers and blast back bitter criticism over the 52-year-old Northern Irish football manager
Michael Stewart has once again criticised the internal turmoil at Celtic, admitting he still can’t move past the moment an unnamed senior club executive allegedly briefed against Brendan Rodgers in the media.
Back on September 5 — just days after the transfer window closed — The Scottish Sun published comments from a so-called club source claiming:
“Senior figures inside the club believe Rodgers is engineering his exit. What he’s said publicly has divided the club, and off-record discussions are creating major tensions.”
The anonymous insider went on to accuse Rodgers of repeatedly questioning the board’s strategy, despite agreeing to it upon his return, and claimed that his comments were beginning to affect team performances.
Rodgers later condemned the leak as a “cowardly act,” while the Celtic hierarchy brushed it aside as an “unsubstantiated” claim not worth investigating.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound, pundit Michael Stewart revisited the issue, calling it a “vitriolic and shameful” attack that perfectly summed up the growing rift between Rodgers and the Celtic board.
“It was a disgraceful briefing,” Stewart said. “It just shows the level of disconnect — a civil war, basically — between the manager and those running the club. The fallout from that kind of behaviour only deepens the crisis on the pitch.”
Stewart also noted that Celtic’s dip in form reflects deeper issues beyond tactics or squad quality, pointing to the “toxic atmosphere” around the club.
Meanwhile, growing reports suggest Rodgers could walk away at the end of the season. After a frustrating summer transfer window that left him short of key targets, his relationship with the board has seemingly deteriorated.
Although Rodgers remains responsible for recent poor results — against teams like Dundee and Kairat Almaty — his latest cryptic comments, including the now-infamous “Honda Civic” analogy, indicate a manager already planning for life beyond Celtic.
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