Shakhtar Donetsk have been dealt a triple injury blow ahead of their trip to face Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday after key men Marian Shved, Oleg Ocheretko and Yukhym Konoplya have all been made doubtful for the clash.
The three players all trained away from the main squad on Saturday, as head coach Igor Jovicevic took advantage of a free weekend by holding the first of two training sessions at their camp in Vynnyky before travelling to Scotland. Celtic need to pick up three points against the Ukrainians if they want to have any chance of securing a third place finish in Group F and guarantee Europa League football after Christmas. Four points separate the pair with two games remaining so failure to win would see Postecoglou's men crash out altogether.
Shved, who made only three appearances for the Hoops during a two-year spell, had been a mainstay in the Shakhtar side since making the switch from Belgian outfit KV Mechelen in the summer and featured in a 1-1 draw against the Scottish Premiership champions in September as well as bagging a brace against RB Leipzig on matchday 1 with his side running out impressive 4-1 winners in Germany.
However he looks set to miss the visit to Glasgow's east end as he nurses a thigh strain. The former Celtic flop has missed Shakhtar’s last three games and hasn’t played since the 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on matchday 3, when he was taken off after an hour.
Konoplya has been ever-present in Shakhtar’s European campaign to date, while Ocheretko hasn’t featured since the stalemate with Celtic in Warsaw. He remained on the bench for the double-header against Real Madrid and has been absent from the last two league games completely.
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