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Celtic v Sarajevo: Mikey Johnston misses second leg through injury

Mikey Johnston (centre) scored Celtic’s equaliser in Sarajevo last week

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Mikey Johnston will miss the second leg of Celtic’s Champions League first-round qualifier at home to Sarajevo.

The 20-year-old forward scored the equaliser in last week’s 3-1 victory in Bosnia and Herzegovina before limping off with a thigh strain.

Full-back Boli Bolingoli was withdrawn after rolling his ankle in the first leg but has recovered.

Kieran Tierney, Tom Rogic, Marian Shved and Vakoun Issouf Bayo remain sidelined for Neil Lennon’s side.

Midfielder Olivier Ntcham has only just returned to training after playing for France at the European Under-21 Championship.

Striker Leigh Griffiths and Christopher Jullien, the centre-half signed from Toulouse, both featured in Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Rennes, having been unused substitutes in Sarajevo.

On Griffiths, manager Lennon said: “It was great to see him out on the pitch. He’s a work in progress in terms of fitness, but we’re delighted to have him back.”

Jullien, meanwhile, “needs more sharpness” after getting through 57 minutes at the weekend.

Enjoying a two-goal cushion, Celtic are on course for a second-round meeting with Nomme Kalju, the Estonian champions having come from a goal down from their home leg to beat Shkendija on away goals in Macedonia after Nomme Kalju made it 2-1 in stoppage time on Tuesday.

“While it’s a nice lead, the tie is not over yet,” Lennon said.

“Go and out try to win the game and not be complacent. Show Sarajevo the respect we showed them in the first leg.”

Ajer happy to help out

Lennon said the club are “working away” on signing targets, confirming that he wants two new right-backs.

Centre-back Kristoffer Ajer filled in last week, drawing praise from his manager. “It’s not ideal, but he’s so versatile,” Lennon said. “Short-term, he’s doing a very good job for us.

“There’s no panic. But, ideally, if we get through, we’d like one or two more players in for the second round.”

Ajer described himself as “a natural centre-half”, but the 21-year-old explained: “I’m just going to do the job I’m asked to do and hopefully that’s enough.

“It is not a position I’m used to playing. It is more of a holding right-back, playing almost like a centre-half when we are attacking.

“It is a bit different defensive-wise, but attacking-wise, it is not that that hugely different – I’m not going to overlap every time we get the ball.

“I was happy enough to do the job in Sarajevo and I think, as a team, we did a good job there.”

‘I hope we learned something’

Sarajevo head coach Husref Musemic hopes his side can sustain the level they reached in the first-half of the opening leg over the whole 90 minutes.

“Teams like Celtic penalise every mistake and so it was,” he said. “We gave away naive goals and I hope we learned something.”

Nebojsa Gavric, a 27-year-old midfielder signed this summer from Backa after their relegation from the Serbian top flight, will be hoping to make his Sarajevo debut, while striker Haris Handzic returns to the squad.

However, Bojan Letic, a left-back signed this month from Czech top-flight club Karvina, did not travel, while goalkeeper Matej Markovic is ineligible having signed after the first leg from Krupa after their relegation from the Bosnia-Herzegovina Premier League.

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