Celtic defender Hatem Abd Elhamed has hinted he could miss longer than expected after hinting at an extended lay-off on social media.
The Israeli defender limped out of Thursday night's win over Lazio with a groin problem and Neil Lennon suggested he would miss this weekend but could be back after that.
However, Elhamed took to Instagram to share a post which suggests the injury is worse than first feared after receiving bad news this morning.
He said: “Bad news this morning but I will be back stronger. Thank god always.”
That would open the door for Jeremie Frimpong to get an extended run at right back after impressing in recent weeks.
The youngster was unable to play on Thursday after being left out of the Europa League squad.
But the news of Elhamed's injury will be a major blow for Lennon with the 28-year-old impressing heavily since moving to Celtic in the summer.
The Hoops paid a fee of £1.6million to sign him from Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Lennon waxed lyrical about him in recent weeks.
He said: “For the money we bought him for he’s proving to be real value for money. But we looked and looked and looked at him.
“Then we looked at him again and were always wondering: ‘What’s wrong with him? Where is the flaw?’
“Every time, though, we went back to him, looked at the footage again and looked at other players.
“And finally we thought: ‘We’ve got to trust our eyes, trust our instincts.’
“I’ve a good relationship with his agent who was waxing lyrical about Hatem ... as agents do. But he has been true to his word so far – Hatem has been excellent."
