Celtic star facing season-ending surgery as injury woe goes on - better news on Cameron Carter-Vickers

Cvancara joined Celtic from German Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach in January, but has not been listed in the squad for the past two matches.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has now revealed that Cvancara may require surgery on a groin injury and if he does go under the knife, the 25-year-old will not feature again for the club.

Celtic are light on attacking options at No 9, with wide-forward Daizen Maeda currently fulfilling that role. Kelechi Iheanacho has been featuring as a substitute, while another loanee - Junior Adamu - has failed to impress since coming in from Freiburg.

Speaking ahead of Celtic’s Premiership clash against Hibs on Sunday, O’Neill issued a gloomy outlook on Cvancara, who has scored two goals in nine league appearances.

"He's got a bit of a groin strain,” said O’Neill. “They're talking about the possibility of getting it seen to now. We'll have a look at that. When I say get it seen to, that might involve a small operation or something like that. But we don't know yet at this minute. He has to go for some more tests.

"If he had the operation, then you definitely wouldn't see him again. But I'd like the specialist to have another look at it.”

There was better news on Cameron Carter-Vickers, the influential Celtic centre-half who has missed most of the season with an Achilles issue. The American returned to training this week, but O’Neill cautioned against an imminent return to action.

“I think it's the first time I've really seen him on the grass with the rest of the lads, which is great,” said O’Neill. “He would want to play Sunday if he could. That's a distance away. He'll not be happy with me saying this, but I have to be guided by the physios and the medical staff. It's great to see him out there. He's been bursting to go, really. But he's a bit off.

“Knowing him, as Tim (Williamson, physio) said to me, he said you wouldn't write anything off with him. But he just wants to not get excited from our viewpoint. Just seeing him out there, seeing someone out there doing a little bit of running with somebody is a totally different issue to getting ready for the games.

“Honestly, I've been told to be, not that I was expecting this here from him, but I've been told to be careful of what I say about these. Imagine the physio telling me to be careful about what I say. But he was saying just don't be getting too excited by it.”

Carter-Vickers has remained a prominent part of the Celtic squad despite his injury and O’Neill hailed the defender for his leadership qualities.

“He's been great, really great,” the manager added. “He's attended all the meetings, he's in there. You can see why he's been a big figure here. He's in the dressing room with the players at game time, he doesn't miss any of these meetings that we have in the mornings. He's there, he's there all the time.

“So, he's a big influence. The players look up to him, which is great.”