Rodgers faces European sweat over Bitton

CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that midfielder Nir Bitton is facing a Champions League fitness sweat ahead of Wednesday’s second leg against Lincoln Red Imps.

The Israeli international was left out of yesterday’s 2-1 home friendly win over German side Wolfsburg with Rodgers waiting for an update on a hip problem picked up in Gibraltar.

The new boss had more positive news regarding Stefan Johansen, who is set to return to training tomorrow after making a quickfire recovery from ankle damage.

Johansen had been ruled out for up to three weeks, taking in the third qualifying round of European football’s premier competition providing the Parkhead club overcome a 1-0 deficit to the Gibraltarians on Wednesday, but an injection has led to a rapid improvement in his condition.

However, the prognosis is not so good for Bitton, with Rodgers revealing: ‘He had an issue after the game the other night with his hip flexor. He was in a lot of pain on Friday, so we didn’t need to risk him and we will see how he is for Wednesday.

‘Johansen should be able to train on Monday. He’ll take the first steps on Monday and then we’ll assess his availability for Wednesday.’

Meanwhile, Rodgers insisted that his midweek claim that losing in Gibraltar was not an embarrassment should not be misunderstood.

‘I was not being arrogant or anything after the first game,’ he said. ‘The players are still in their preparation phase and the objective over the course of this tie was to get through.’