Celtic have suffered a major injury blow ahead of the club’s clash with Rangers at Ibrox after influential winger James Forrest was ruled out of the match.
According to the Scottish Sun, Forrest has suffered an injury setback as he looks to return from an ankle knock which has kept him out since September.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon confirmed that the right-winger, who has been a pivotal part of the Celtic squad for the last decade, will miss the clash with Rangers on the 2nd of January.
“He is coming off the crutches at the weekend, which is a step in the right direction,” said Lennon.
“We’re probably looking at the end of January.
“By then we will have an idea of where he is.”
This is a sizeable blow for a Celtic side well aware that they will need to get something from the match at Ibrox to stay in the title race.
Rangers are currently 13 points clear in the Scottish Premiership with Celtic having two games in hand on their rivals.
The Gers will also play another game more than Celtic next weekend – against Motherwell at Ibrox – with Celtic to play Hearts in last season’s Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.
Should both sides win all of their league matches up until the next Old Firm game at Ibrox then Rangers could go 19 points clear with a victory.
Celtic managed to cut into Rangers’ 16 point lead with a much-needed 2-0 Scottish Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Celtic Park to bring it back down to 13 points.
Rangers had opened up that gap courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Dundee United, where the club’s fans were left amazed by an outrageous free-kick goal from captain James Tavernier.
