Europa League - Team news: Defensive boost for Celtic

Eurosport - Wed, 21 Oct 17:06:00 2009

Defenders Glenn Loovens and Andreas Hinkel are back in contention for Celtic's Europa League clash with Hamburg at Parkhead on Thursday night.

FOOTBALL Andreas Hinkel of Celtic - 0

Holland international Loovens was banned for Saturday's goalless draw with Motherwell although he had a calf injury, while Hinkel has missed Celtic's last three matches with a thigh injury.

The German full-back (pictured) wants boss Tony Mowbray to throw him into the clash at Parkhead against the team from his homeland.

He told the Scottish Daily Express: "Maybe I could have made the Motherwell game at the weekend but we wanted to play it safe.

"The duel against Hamburg for me, of course, is a special game.

"I am fit again and I am confident that I can play against Hamburg provided no complications occur during training."

Danny Fox has been struggling in recent weeks with a dead leg and hamstring tear and is fit again but misses out through illness. Landry N'Guemo, who was left out of the squad for the Motherwell game altogether, is back in the frame.

Hamburg have major injury concerns in defence. Alex Silva, Collin Benjamin, Miroslav Stepanek and Bastian Reinhardt are all out and now star defender Jerome Boateng is doubtful with a knee injury.

The situation up front is just as bad. Paolo Guerrero (knee) and Mladen Petric (ankle) are out while

Paolo Guerrero and Mladen Petric are out with knee ligament and ankle trouble while Tolgay-Ali Arslan had to be substituted during the 0-0 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen meaning young Swedish striker Marcus Berg is their only fully fit striker.

PA Sport

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  1. Point 2 (FollowWithPride) - good on you my friend. A­ Rangers fan who I agree with. Although Daddy and I did­ laugh on Tuesday you are right about Scottish­ fitba', both CFC and RFC aren't great just now­ so hopefully tonight we'll restore some pride,­ otherwise we're out of Europe again before­ Christmas! Isn't that right, daddy?

    From Alan R, on Thu 22 Oct 6:50PM
  2. #10 barny this is the worst team i've seen in about­ 38 years of following celtic but there is only so much­ you can take from team management chairman it's­ just not good enough i pay £550 a season to watch guys­ who call themselves footballers that cant even pass a­ ball to a team mate and some of them are earning around­ £25,000 a week maybe you would change you're mind­ if you a bit if you saw the houses and the lifestyles­ that these so called footballers live as i said £550 a­ season i struggle to pay that every season but at the­ moment i'm getting short changed so we all entitled­ to our owm opinions

    From the azzurri, on Thu 22 Oct 5:23PM
  3. lol the so called celtic fans below need 2 go take a­ long hard look at themselfs in the mirror .So this­ might not be the best celtic side we have ever had but­ there still pullin on the celtic jersey every week and­ rather than back them you's see fit 2 slag them off­ which in turn means ur slaggin off celtic so im askin­ myself can you's really call yourselfs celtic fans­ u bunch of idiots.no matter who pulls on that celtic­ jersey gets my backin whether there the best player in­ the world or an average player there still a celtic­ player.........celtic 2 win 2nite 3-1 and shut u all­ up.............Hail Hail

    From barny, on Thu 22 Oct 1:18PM
  4. celtic to
    win

    From christos c, on Thu 22 Oct 11:48AM
  5. We will all be united on thursday nite ! F*ucked in­ Europe !!!!

    From aztectrooper35, on Thu 22 Oct 12:05AM
  6. that wasnt rangers fans being racist was it?surely not­ them,english fans no doubt !

    From zzgus f, on Wed 21 Oct 9:36PM
  7. The time is right for Celtic to do it alone. They are a­ world brand and in the right arena they would be­ massive.Celtic dont need the spl in any form including­ rangers.They are all a massive millstone around CFC­ neck.

    As for the fools from such small clubs south of­ the border commenting here about how bad celtic are­ ,with the right investments guarnteed in the right­ circumstances Celtic Football Club would be second to­ none in the world of soccer.

    This is not a pipe dream­ this is fact.

    From thetwotoedsloth, on Wed 21 Oct 9:18PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    are all you people out there thinking like me old­ firm ,premirship, your having a laugh forget it you­ lot are a small team in a large­ leaguehhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    From paul, on Wed 21 Oct 7:18PM
  9. Both clubs are suffering from the influx of journeyman­ foootballers whose only aim is to make a few bob then­ move on somewhere else before the coaches realise just­ how @#$% they really are. We will always be way down­ the list as the teams of choice for good players. The­ problem emerging now is that European football was one­ attraction for a player looking at the Old Firm. That­ scenario is now rapidly disappearing too. We've­ been ripped off by Setanta and now the European money­ is rapidly drying up. Where do we go from here? I hate­ to say it but the SPL is sub standard and both Celtic­ and Rangers will suffer badly in the long term if they­ don't get out soon. Get into the English­ Premiership or even the Championship, get some regular­ quality opposition and some decent TV coverage. Yes I­ feel sorry for the rest of Scottish football but these­ days it's all about money, like it or not. I­ don't see this as arrogance. The stats speak for­ themselves. Total dominance of the SPL for years is not­ a good thing for either club. You can't play St­ Johnstone week in week out and then be expected to beat­ Barcelona. As a Celtic fan I know there are problems at­ club level but there is a bigger picture here and until­ that's addressed, things will never improve.

    From John L, on Wed 21 Oct 6:25PM
  10. #2 fwp i doubt that celtic will get a result this is­ the worst team i've seen in a long time, the best­ celtic will get tomorrow night a draw

    From the azzurri, on Wed 21 Oct 4:28PM
  11. I can only hope Celtic restore some dignity against­ Hamburg for the sake of Scottish football.
    None of this­ - haha hope yous get humped. Its past the point of­ banter, we are at an all time low here.
    Nuff said.

    From FollowWithPride, on Wed 21 Oct 2:37PM
  12. am a celtic fan and hope we get a result against­ hamburg but just cant see where goals are goin to come­ from, Dark times ahead for our clubs and national side,­ Watched Rangers last night and found it hard to belive­ that what should have been a fairly easy 3 points­ turned into an embarrasment, Do us the supporters­ deserve to watch the @#$% wee pay a hell of a lot to­ watch, Think times have changed and both sets of old­ firm need to start making club remember who pays a­ large amount into the clubs each week, Wonder what­ would happen if no fans turned up for an old firm game­ because lets be honest there has not been a true old­ firm game for years,
    Time for change in Scotland or­ its irish or welsh league standards round the corner

    From shaggyplastered, on Wed 21 Oct 8:10AM
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