Celtic handed fresh Christopher Jullien injury setback

There is no doubt that Celtic have missed Christopher Jullien’s presence for a long time now. The French defender had his fair share of fitness issues at the start of last season but had made a return to the pitch and looked good, only to return to the sidelines after picking up another injury. It was initially expected to keep him out of action for around four months but it has been much longer than that, and he has not made a single appearance this year.

Many believe that when fit and on top form, Jullien is the best defender that Celtic have in their squad. As a result, his return would be a massive boost for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

He has been making progress and it was believed that he could be involved after the recently-concluded international break. But it does not look like that will be the case and there is more work to be done before Jullien can return to the pitch.

As reported by Football Scotland, Postecoglou said about the Celtic defender:

"“We still need to do some work with Chris. I know people are anxious but we are not quite there.“This was sort of seen as a likely return date but we have just got to be careful.“I want him back but I want him back for good. I don’t want him suffering a setback.”"

Jullien needs more time before making his Celtic return

Many expected Jullien to be back in action by the end of this month but Postecoglou’s comments have certainly put that in doubt.

There is no question that Jullien is a very good player but one cannot overlook the fact that he has not kicked a ball for almost a year now, and had his injury problems before that too. Thus, one has to wonder how he will look when he does eventually return to the pitch.

And when he does make his comeback, will he be able to get ahead of the likes of Carl Starfelt, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh in the centre-back pecking order?

Only time will tell but for now, the most important thing is that Jullien gets back to full fitness and returns to the pitch as soon as possible.