Lennon remains hopeful over Hooper

14 August 2011 08:00

Neil Lennon is hoping Gary Hooper's ankle injury is not as bad as first feared after the striker was taken off a stretcher in the second half of Celtic's 5-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League win over Dundee United at Parkhead.

The Celtic boss went in to the game without Glenn Loovens, Emilio Izaguirre and Beram Kayal who were all out through injury and he watched in dismay in the 63rd minute as Hooper immediately signalled to the bench his distress following a challenge from United defender Paul Dixon, just after the Celtic striker had got a shot away.

"This injury seems to be in vogue at the minute," said Lennon. "He rolled his ankle with the impact from the shot and the challenge from Paul Dixon, although there was nothing malicious in it."

He added: "We will have Gary scanned on Monday and with a bit of luck it will not be as bad as Kayal's.

"He could be (okay for Europa League on Thursday) but I wouldn't like to call it.

"Kayal felt a lot better but it could be a stretch to make Thursday night but you never know, fingers crossed.

"It's not been great with some of the players who have picked up knocks but you could see the strength of the squad and the substitutes who came on were brilliant and made a huge impact as Dundee United were tiring."

Lennon confirmed Borussia Monchengladbach striker Mohammadou Idrissou would be coming to Lennoxtown on Monday for a few days training, saying: "We have checked him out before and it is worth a look for him."

Source: PA