A development on David Turnbull and Jota's fitness ahead of Celtic's upcoming matches has emerged...

What's the latest?

Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou has revealed that the pair are both closing in on their respective returns ahead of the club's UEFA Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

When asked about his squad for the clash with Hearts in the Premiership this afternoon, Postecoglou said:

"Pretty much the same as it has been the last two or three games. The guys closest are Jota and Turnbull coming back but with the team travelling well and being able to rotate there is no point rushing them back.

"We’ve got some important games coming up so they should be available next week at some point. The rest of the squad came through Wednesday (at Motherwell) well so we’ll have quite a strong lineup tomorrow."

When specifically asked about Jota featuring, he said:

"Yeah, a chance but again we don’t want to rush him back, we’ll gauge by how he is going. He is training, he’s away from the main group, we’ll integrate him into team training [at] some point next week."

Huge boost

This news will come as a big lift to the head coach as it appears as though both players are now in with a chance of being available for today, though the clash with Shakhtar seems more likely, which will be a huge boost to the manager and the team.

Whilst it is not confirmed that they will be fit enough to start, this is a promising development for both players and supporters will surely be hoping that they are able to overcome their injury and illness issues to feature on Tuesday.

The Hoops are currently bottom of their Champions League group and could need, given the goal difference and Shakhtar being four points ahead of them, to win both of their last two matches to give themselves a chance of finishing in third place to drop down to the Europa League.

Jota's return would be a huge boost to the team as he has been in terrific form this season. The gem has scored one goal and created 2.7 chances per match in the Champions League, whilst he has also plundered four goals and five assists in nine Premiership appearances so far.

Turnbull, meanwhile, has created 1.8 chances per game across eight outings in the Scottish top-flight. This comes after he managed six goals and eight assists, creating 3.2 chances per appearance, in 20 starts in the division last term.

These statistics show that both players have the potential to make a big impact at the top end of the pitch and that is why their respective returns will come as a huge boost for Postecoglou ahead of both European and domestic matches before the World Cup break next month.