John Hughes, a former Celtic defender, is thrilled to see Cameron Carter-Vickers back and believes the Scottish Premiership title battle will be decided by how well he recovers.
After surgery last summer, Carter-Vickers has struggled with injuries and fitness issues. Later musculoskeletal problems have reduced his playing time.
The American international has only managed to make 19 starts so far this season, but he now has the opportunity to be a key player in the Bhoys’ championship pursuit.
After receiving positive results from a scan, he overcame his most recent injury scare and is expected to be eligible for selection against St Johnstone on Saturday.
Talk about Cameron Carter-Vickers’ Celtic comeback
According to Hughes, Carter-Vickers is the most crucial player on the Celtic defense, and the advantages of his comeback are immeasurable.
At times this season, Carter-Vickers has been a great loss for me, he added [Daily Record, 15/03 print edition, page 43]. He is enormously powerful for Celtic. You consider Carter-Vickers, who had a chance to win player of the year, and Hatate, who was among the players of the year the previous season.
The return of Carter-Vickers will be extremely beneficial to Brendan. He plays a big role in how they play out from the back and is a rock at the back. You witnessed how much of an impact he had when he entered the game against Motherwell.
“He has all of the tools in the package. He is swift, strong, and proficient in the air. He’s one step ahead of everyone else in his reading of the game, as you can see. When you consider his track record while on the team, you can see that Celtic has hardly lost any of the games he has played in.
“It’s imperative that he stays healthy for the remainder of the season for Celtic,”
It’s crucial, in my opinion, to avoid getting ahead of ourselves about Carter and Vickers. Since December, the defender has played in only one ninety-minute game, so it’s far too soon to tell if his injury problems are behind him.
Undoubtedly, he will have a significant influence on Celtic’s performance and fortunes if he can remain healthy for the remaining nine league games as well as the Scottish Cup.
After he gets through this weekend’s match against St Johnstone without incident and the international break, we can assess whether he’s truly ready to establish some consistency. If he can continue to be available, that would be great.
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