CELTIC HOPEFUL NORWAY DUO CAN FACE HIBS
CELTIC are hopeful Kris Ajer and Mohamed Elyounoussi will be granted the all-clear to face Hibernian over the next 24 hours. Norway were forced to postpone their Nations League meeting with Romania when full-back Omar Elabdellaoui tested positive for coronavirus. And the Parkhead side feared Norwegian duo Ajer and Elyounoussi would be forced to quarantine for ten days under the rules. Sportsmail understands, however, that the SFA and SPFL Joint Response Group are now in discussions with Scottish Government public health officials. A decision is expected today with the champions hopeful the duo will be available after they tested negative three times in the aftermath of Elabdellaoui’s result. The pair have also offered assurances that neither had close contact with their international team-mate. Former Parkhead midfielder Stefan Johansen, now at Fulham, and Sheffield United’s Sander Berge have already been given the green light to resume training with their clubs by the English authorities. Celtic were badly affected by Covid complications last month, with Odsonne Edouard, Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed all testing positive and Ryan Christie forced to isolate for 14 days after being identified as a ‘close contact’ of Scotland team-mate Stuart Armstrong when the midfielder was diagnosed with the virus. Republic of Ireland captain Shane Duffy has tested negative for Covid-19 in the wake of international teammates Matt Doherty and James McClean returning positive tests after playing the full 90 minutes of their 1-0 defeat to Wales on Sunday night. Meanwhile, Parkhead striker Odsonne Edouard struck twice against Switzerland last night to set a new scoring record for France Under-21s. Edouard bagged his 14th goal at that level before adding a second on the way to a 3-1 home win in a Euro 2021 qualifier.