BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Celtic (original) (raw)

Celtic's worst fears about Johan Mjallby have been realised, with the Swedish international being ruled out through injury for three months.

A scope on the defender's knee has confirmed fears that he has suffered cartilage damage.

He will miss his club's Uefa Cup first-round tie and possibly as many as two vital Old Firm games in the Scottish Premierleague.

Last week, he had been buoyed by results of a scan that revealed he had not suffered any meaningful damage to his lateral miniscus.

The results have shown that there has been some ligament damage to Johan's knee
Celtic spokesperson

But Wednesday afternoon's scope has shown that the different cartilage had degenerated significantly.

Mjallby has been told to prepare himself for a 12-week period of rehabilitation, although the club's medical team fully expect to see him back in action before the turn of the year.

A Celtic spokesperson confirmed: "The results have shown that there has been some ligament damage to Johan's knee and the diagnoses is that he will be out for three months."

Mjallby was badly missed at Fir Park on Tuesday night as Celtic's long unbeaten league run was brought to a halt with a 2-1 defeat by Motherwell.

He will definitely miss the Old Firm clash on 8 October and there is a chance he could also be sidelined for the Ibrox game on 7 December.

Mjallby had been plagued with the knee problem for some time and it forced him to pull out of his country's European Championship qualifier with Latvia at the weekend.

He will also miss next month's Group Four game against Hungary.