'Severity' of Schmeichel injuries surprises O'Neill
· Yahoo Sports
Martin O'Neill has admitted he is "surprised at the severity" of Kasper Schmeichel's shoulder problems after the Celtic goalkeeper announced he may have played his last game.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
The 39-year-old Dane requires two operations and faces up to a year of recovery, with his contract at Celtic up at the end of this season.
"I must admit I was surprised at the severity of it," interim manager O'Neill said.
"I know that he was having injections to play some of the games. So disappointed to hear the news, I must admit.
"We've all done this. I've been guilty of that myself a hundred-odd years ago, trying to play through an injury to play in a European Cup final [with Nottingham Forest]."
Schmeichel last played on 22 February and announced his prognosis during an interview on CBS Sports Golazo.
And O'Neill commented: "If that was the first announcement, obviously I would've preferred to have heard it myself.
"I thought he was really terrific in my first spell here [this season], the six or seven weeks that I was involved. He made some big, big saves in games."
Viljamo Sinisalo, the 24-year-old Finland international, has deputised in recent weeks.
"Young Sinisalo's come in and done very, very well, kept his place in the team," O'Neill said.
Johnston, Engels & McGregor making progress
Celtic, who are second in the Scottish Premiership and two points behind Heart of Midlothian, travel to face Dundee United on Sunday (12:30 GMT).
Right-back Alistair Johnston is nearing a return to fitness after being out for most of the season with hamstring problems.
"He's doing really well," O'Neill said of the Canada international.
"His national side want him to go for a week over there. We, at this minute, would probably prefer him to stay. I don't think it's going to a big issue as long as he's training somewhere.
"We need to have some sort of bounce games or something like that to play in here as soon as possible.
"That's big news if he can come back in for the part of the run-in, so that would be great."
O'Neill also said Arne Engels is "doing really fine" in his recovery and made similar sentiments about captain Callum McGregor.
Engels last played on 11 February, while fellow midfielder McGregor has missed the past two games.
"He's fine, he's going to be fine and he's come through," O'Neill said of McGregor.
"We'll see how he is tomorrow. That was his first real day with the team, but he's raring to go."