Chris Sutton will miss Celtic's Scottish Premier League match with Rangers tomorrow to be at the bedside of his seriously ill baby, his club confirmed yesterday.
Sutton, (28), is keeping a vigil on his two-month-old son James who was rushed into hospital in Glasgow on Thursday while the player was in Spain for Celtic's UEFA Cup tie with Valencia. The former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker learned of the news just hours before he was due to play and withdrew from the match before flying back to Scotland.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill confirmed yesterday that Sutton's son - who was born 11 weeks premature - was "critical but stable".
"Chris has asked, through the club, that his privacy be respected," said O'Neill.
Celtic are preparing for an important Old Firm derby but O'Neill feels Sutton, a huge favourite with fans since moving to Parkhead in June 2000, will have no part to play.
"I do not envisage him playing," he said.
Apart from Sutton, O'Neill is set to lose two other key players - Joos Valgaeren and Alan Thompson, along with long-term casualty Didier Agathe - for tomorrow's second Old Firm encounter.
But the Hoops boss believes the loss of those players will offer him a chance to test his squad.
"We have, in many aspects, supposedly strengthened the side this season. But numerically we are actually down on players from last season," said O'Neill.
"Because of the Champions League preparations, a couple of the players have still to go and show precisely what they can do. I think they will do in time. We have been playing with the same players week in week out.
"Joos Valgaeren told me the other week that, with Roda in Holland, they played every Saturday and there was time to recover from injury and do a bit of preparation. Here it is continual, and that is something he and a few others are trying to get used to.
"It does take its toll, and there are periods in matches when you realise that the efforts of the players in every match are there. So I never ever question the commitment of the players."
O'Neill paid tribute to Celtic goalkeeper Rob Douglas who kept his side in the tie at the Mestalla Stadium with a string of fine saves. "It would have been fantastic to get a goal, but Rob Douglas' performance ensured we still have a chance," said O'Neill.
Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has insisted hot-headed Fernando Ricksen can keep his cool against Celtic. The fiery Dutchman was red-carded during their vital first-leg, third round UEFA Cup tie against Paris St Germain on Thursday night.
Ricksen endured a turbulent first season at Ibrox last term when his performances and discipline were questioned by the Ibrox faithful.
He became the first player in Scottish football history to receive a retrospective red card when video evidence showed that he aimed a Kung-Fu style kick at Aberdeen's Darren Young. Just two months later, during the old Firm derby at Parkhead in February, the defender saw red again.
Earlier this season Ricksen claimed that he now had his explosive temper under control and his performances on the park this season seemed to have backed that up.
Despite his moment of madness against PSG, Advocaat claims he has no fears about throwing Ricksen straight into the white-hot atmosphere of tomorrow's derby.
He said: "I will speak to him tomorrow when we go to the hotel. I think Fernando is one of the players who has played very consistently the whole season to quite a high level."
Only Tore Andre Flo and Ricksen picked up slight knocks against PSG and Advocaat expects both players to be able to start the game against Celtic.
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