Injuries be damned: This Celtic squad won't be undone by a blistering schedule, it'll be tempered in it

The Scottish champions will be involved in 13 games in 43 days as they compete across three competitions in what could be a season-defining period of time.

Ange Postecoglou's squad will be pushed to its limit as they fight across all fronts before the tournament in Qatar.

Matches in the Scottish Premiership, Champions League and League Cup await the Hoops over the next six-and-a-half weeks.

To put in context how busy the Hoops are going to be, there will be a game every three days or so from Saturday October 1 until November 12.

In the near future, opponents include Motherwell, a double-header in the Champions League group stages against RB Leipzig as well as matches against St Johnstone and Hibs.

Injuries are one thing that could be perceived as potentially derailing this momentum, with players such as Daizen Maeda, David Turnbull, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Sead Haksabanovic picking up knocks during the most recent international break.

It has also been well published that Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt were already ruled out of action before these latest developments.

Maeda, a key player and versatile option in attack, joined in training and could be available. David Turnbull, too, is not as bad as initially feared and Haksabanovic might yet play a part.

Yet the others... Giakoumakis was the top goalscorer in the Scottish Premiership last term while Carter-Vickers is an ever-present rock at the back. Starfelt, a Sweden international, grew into the season despite a shaky start and became a capable partner for his American counterpart.

However, despite missing these names, the 52-times league winners have been here before in terms of having to battle through a tough schedule.

Last year, with a far more limited quality of squad, at times, former B-team hopefuls such as Owen Moffat had to start against Ross County and St Mirren while not having a recognised striker available meant Liel Abada had to play up front.

This was one of the reasons the ex-Socceroos coach signed Maeda, Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Matt O'Riley in the January transfer window: to add more depth.

It was a smart decision and it helped the Bhoys on their way to wresting back the title from Rangers during last season's run-in.

This season - after a fruitful summer of ins and outs - Postecoglou has even more options at his disposal.

The permanent signings of Maeda, Carter-Vickers and Jota have kept the squad consistently strong, along with the additions of Alexandro Bernabei, Moritz Jenz, Haksabanovic, Aaron Mooy, Benjamin Siegrist and Oliver Abildgaard to boost it through busier periods.

After the opening day victory against Aberdeen, the Celtic boss made it clear the squad was set up to avoid a repeat of another injury crisis taking its toll and that he does not strictly have a set first team.

“I get it,” he said at the time. “I know why people will actually think that last week’s team is kind of my first 11 and everyone else is after that.

"I just don’t work that way. It’s not the way I think. Every 11 I put out there is the 11 to start a game. That’s not a judgement on players or someone being better than someone else.

"The whole idea in the way of setting things up this year, particularly in midfield, is that we have depth. That is so we can make sure that guys don’t get overburdened.

"So I don’t have a first 11, I don’t have a set midfield three and then another one. What I do have is players who can play in those areas and I want to get the maximum out of all of them.

“The only way I can do that is by keeping them fresh for when they are needed.”

This theory will no doubt be tested over the coming weeks, given how intense the run of games will be and injury worries will only add to that.

However, the bulk of the team have been here before and with those who haven't Postecoglou is also now in a much better position to deal with any such issues than he was even 12 short months ago.

His men will not be undone by the blistering schedule that lies in front of them, they will be tempered by it.

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out at 4pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team. 

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