Scottish journalist Raman Bhardwaj has delivered the news that all Celtic fans will have been dreading on Tuesday afternoon.
The STV journalist has claimed that the Celtic striker will be out for two-to-three weeks with a hamstring injury after limping out of the Champions League qualifier against Alashkert.
Bhardwaj made the claim on his personal Twitter account, but did say the two-three weeks was the “maximum he’d be out for”.
This would rule him out of both Champions League qualifying games against Rosenborg, with the first leg on Wednesday night.
Moussa Dembele out for 2-3 weeks maximum with a hamstring injury
— Raman Bhardwaj (@ramanbhardwajTV) July 24, 2018
This comes after a report in the Scottish Sun claimed that he was a major doubt for the game tomorrow.
OPINION
This is a blow for Celtic but it could have been worse. In Odsonne Edouard they have a forward who’s more than capable of replacing Dembele. And Scott Sinclair can come in after making two cameo appearances. The problem is the Rosenborg games won’t be easy and it’s so pivotal to Celtic’s season. If they do get past Rosenborg they’ll have to take on AEK Athens, a substantially harder two matches where they will desperately need all their best players available. However, with the first leg set for August 7th or 8th, that means Dembele is in a race against time to recover for those games. That would be a much bigger blow. And this is a player who missed the first five games of last season with a hamstring injury too. Brendan Rodgers will know that he can’t rush him back and risk him being out for a lengthy period of time, but will also know how important he is to Celtic’s Champions League hopes. It will be a tricky balancing act.