MARTIN O’NEILL has revealed Celtic stars Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand are facing hamstring surgery.
Canada star AJ has been out of action since October 23 with kid striker Osmand getting crocked in last week’s Euro clash with Midtjylland.
And caretaker boss O’Neill has revealed they’ll both go under the knife this week after scans showed the extent of the damage is worse than first thought.
They’re now both facing several MONTHS on the sidelines.
Celts were also hit with another injury to Uruguayan left-back Marcelo Saracchi against Killie to add to their fitness issues which also sees Kelechi Iheanacho and Cameron Carter-Vickers ruled out of action.
O’Neill said: “Saracchi has done his hamstring.
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“I don’t know what this game’s about, really, honestly.
“He’s going to be out again.
“And the other two lads, Johnston and Osmand, are getting surgery on Tuesday.
“So they’re going to be out for a LONG time.
“They had to wait a little while to get a clear picture from the scan on Johnston’s hamstring.
“And that’s shown a tear as well. So, that’s really sad because everybody says he’s a really, really good player.”
O’Neill was thrilled with his latest league win, with supporters chanting his name throughout the second half.
But he knows the fans are expecting new recruits when the transfer window opens in January.
He added: “Well, if I’m leaving now, I’m going to tell the next manager he has got the greatest squad that’s ever lived.
“And then, if I’m staying on, I’m saying we’ve got a lot of work to do. So there we are.
“I’ve seen loads of managers doing this, you know.
“And then finding out that they’ve actually had to stay on.
“I genuinely don’t even have to tell you this. You can see outside what we have and what we don’t.”
O’Neill handed a debut to on-loan Man City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey who came through a shaky start to impress.
He added: “I am learning all the time.
“I just thought we’d maybe start the game with a little bit more energy.
“Luke McCowan started the game today and he got very tired.
“I took a bit of a risk, really, on the Manchester City lad.
“You know, I thought, ‘Well, if he can play centre half, maybe he can play out there’.
“He didn’t get off to a brilliant start.
“I thought about taking him off after about four minutes. But, don’t tell him that! But, no, he did fine.
‘He actually did fine and I think he got applauded off the pitch, which was nice. Not necessarily by me, but there you go.
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“But, no, I was delighted. Honestly, really pleased.”
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