Keane an injury worry for Strachan

Celtic have suffered a major injury scare with the frightening news that Roy Keane limped out of training.

Manager Gordon Strachan was already facing a defensive crisis, with the former Manchester United skipper set to continue in the back four while Stephen McManus is suspended, Bobo Balde is on international duty and Du Wei has departed.

That could leave the Scottish League leaders with the daunting prospect of going to Fir Park tomorrow with Adam Virgo the only available central defender.

Keane is a serious doubt after he pulled up at Barrowfield, leaving Strachan with a major headache. John Kennedy is still some way off a return, with almost-forgotten Stanislav Varga short of match fitness. According to Strachan the Slovakian international is also suffering from an abscess in his mouth.

Asked if he had a problem with Keane, the Celtic manager said: "Roy hasn't given me a problem. He's not bad. We'll see how he is. I don't know if he'll be alright. I hope he is. We will still have a decent team. We'll get on with it.

"Big Stephen is suspended, Bobo is obviously missing and Du Wei is away. But we managed without three strikers for most of the season, so I hope we can manage without three centre-halves."

Virgo has made only seven appearances for Celtic this season, with most of them being as a substitute since his £1.5million move from Brighton.

Unless Keane recovers, the Scotland Under-21 man could line up in a back four which would include new signing Mark Wilson at full-back, with Paul Telfer pushed further infield.

Strachan said: "Adam was injured when he joined and while he was out the players who came in did well. He can play right-back and I'm trying to make him into a centre-half as well and he can play as striker.

"We have tried to work on him and hopefully we are doing alright."

Another possibility is Varga, who had disappeared without a trace since the 4-4 match at Fir Park on the opening weekend of the season.

Strachan said: "Stan has been training for a couple of weeks but has had an abscess in his gum and tooth so that has held him back. He has always been training with us, but has been injured for a long time, since way back since the first game of the season.

"He is in contention but I wouldn't say he is fully fit. He's played a few reserve games but that's it."