O'Neill angry at Valgaaren injury
Wednesday, 10 October 2001 09:17Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has voiced his displeasure with the Belgian national coach, after Joos Valgaaren reported back from international duty with a knee injury. O'Neill is unhappy that Valgaaren was forced to train with an injury, despite the fact that he did not feature during the loss to Croatia.
Valgaaren is now unlikely to be fit enough to play in Celtic's Champions League clash with Rosenbborg tonight, leaving O'Neill with a selection headache. He said: "Joos Valgaaren has trained a lot with Belgium but he didn't make the team. He has come back in great discomfort and we'll leave it to the last possible minute. I hope he will be fit to play but it is an annoyance."
O'Neill will return to the touchline, after seeing out the one match ban imposed after the Bhoys' clash with Juventus. His injury worries have been eased after the groin strain, which kept Neil Lennon out of the Northern Irish squad, cleared up. O'Neill quashed speculation that this would be an easy win for Celtic, after their good start, and Rosenborg's failures, in the opening clashes.
He said: "It is simply not true and we are not good enough as a team to treat anybody lightly. The possibility that a game in the Champions League might be easy defies logic."
Filed by John Raftery
