The bad news just keeps on coming for Celtic and Ange Postecoglou right now.
The Hoops have lost their last two matches and injury blows continue to plague the Glasgow based side.
It’s a sad eventuality for the manager who had made some strong improvements to the Celtic team since his arrival.
Kyogo Furuhashi is still out injured, though, while Greg Taylor is set to miss the next 12 games because of a shoulder problem.
Yet, in a fresh blow, they will still be without Callum McGregor for their tie with Raith Rovers on Thursday evening.
Postecoglou was optimistic about the captain’s return to the team last Sunday against Livingston but he didn’t even make the squad.
The manager then admitted he was hopeful of having the Scot back for their League Cup tie in midweek but he's now been ruled out of that game too and it has now been confirmed that he’s even facing a race to be fit for their clash in a week’s time with Bayer Leverkusen.
This is a seismic blow to Celtic, particularly if he’s going to be out for another week.
It comes at a particularly unfortunate time with both Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy struggling to cement themselves in the last seven days.
Soro looked like a red card waiting to happen against Real Betis last Thursday and was fortunate not to be given his marching orders after a few mistimed tackles in the first half.
All of that led to his substitution just minutes into the second period.
McCarthy came in for the diminutive midfielder against Livi but was also extremely abject. He surrendered possession on 15 occasions and failed to provide the team with any attacking actions.
Early reports state the Irishman wasn’t one of Celtic’s first choice options in the market this summer and that he’s already struggling with the intensity of Postecoglou’s methods.
This has only elevated McGregor’s importance to the team. Being club captain, he is already a monumental figure at Parkhead but the displays of his midfield colleagues in the last week have made him irreplaceable.
With Celtic stuck in a rut, the manager is likely to be increasingly gutted about the skipper’s fitness.