Big Chris is ready for Sparta trip
CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN is back for Celtic’s clash with Sparta Prague tonight.
The French defender hasn’t played in more than two months due to a back problem.
But Jullien is available for the Europa League encounter, having been in Germany for specialist treatment during his rehab process.
Boss Neil Lennon said: “He needs to play, he has not played since Ross County. He has come back and is ready, so he will be in contention.”
Leigh Griffiths is set to miss out with a knee problem but Odsonne Edouard may return to the starting line-up, having impressed as a scoring sub in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Hibs.
Lennon added: “Everyone suffers dips in form but I thought his contribution against Hibs was immense.
“He looked more like himself and he certainly made us better when he came on, which is obviously a good sign for us going forward.”
Celtic go into the game with just a point on the board at the halfway stage in Group H and under severe pressure due to a record of just two wins in their last eight games.
Lennon criticised aspects of last weekend’s performance at Easter Road but believes hard graft since can pay off in Prague.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it. We’ve had a good couple of days and gone through a few things after the Hibs game.
“We did our post-match on Monday. We looked at some things we did really well. We dominated the first half without really having a cutting
edge.
“We responded very well to going two goals down and came out of the game with a point. On reflection, we probably deserved more out of the game.”