Israel boss Willi Ruttensteiner has defied Neil Lennon by naming Nir Bitton in his Israel squad.
That’s despite the Celtic boss declaring the midfielder unfit.
Lennon confirmed that Bitton had twisted his ankle during Thursday night’s Europa League play-off victory over FK Sarajevo and would miss next Thursday’s crunch encounter at Hapmden.
“Nir’s badly twisted his ankle,” said Lennon after the win in Bosnia. “There’s swelling, so we need to wait and see. But he’s out for Sunday and certainly out for the qualifiers as well. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, just three or four weeks."
But Ruttensteiner has paid no heed to Lennon’s comments and included Bitton in his pool of players for their upcoming fixtures.
That’s not likely to have gone down well at Celtic Park with an Old Firm derby against Rangers on the horizon and a Scottish Cup semi-final clash against Aberdeen in a few weeks time.
Ruttenstener however, believes the 28-year-old could feature in their Nations League clashes with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, even if he won’t play in Glasgow.
“Nir Bitton has been called up and we will see if he can play with us in the second and third games in the Nations League,” he explained.
"I don't think he will be able to train with us at first, but he will join up later."
With other players already missing, Ruttensteiner is in need of bodies for the international triple header.
"Sadly, we are missing players for the game in Glasgow who were 100 per cent motivated to play,” he said.
"But we can't start talking about excuses. I want solutions.
"We are focused entirely on Scotland. We aren't thinking about the Nations League games for now. Our goal is clear...to beat Scotland in the semi-final.
"Our preparations are good. We fly to Scotland on Sunday and stay in the same hotel as we were in the last time we went to Glasgow.
"We play to win. I'm not interested in hard luck stories. I have nothing to gain from sympathy if we lose. I expect to win and I expect my team to be strong."
