Wednesday, June 17, 2026

The Sun Nigeria

Rodgers confirms Iheanacho’s hamstring injury

Iheanacho-1

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Kelechi Iheanacho may have picked up a serious hamstring injury during their 2-1 win over Sturm Graz in the UEFA Europa League.

The Nigerian forward went down just four minutes into the encounter and was replaced by youngster Johnny Kenny.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Rodgers admitted that the injuries to both Iheanacho and defender Alistair Johnston appeared concerning.

“The first two don’t look great. It looks like a hamstring but okay that’s what happened but the two young guys who came in did really well.” He explained that the early injuries and forced substitutions in the first half limited his options, making it difficult to replace Cameron Carter-Vickers, who was also struggling towards the end of the game.

“Our problem was in the second half we could only make one substitution.

“So obviously Cam (Cameron Carter-Vickers) was struggling towards the end of the game. We couldn’t get him off because we’d already made the substitutions in the game.”

The Nigerian forward has been in impressive form since joining Celtic in the summer, netting three goals and providing one assist in eight appearances across all competitions.

Iheanacho’s injury will be a major worry for Brendan Rodgers ahead of this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash against Hearts.

His absence leaves Rodgers with only youngster Johnny Kenny as a fit recognised striker, with Japanese forward Daizen Maeda still sidelined through injury.