Keane will be back earlier than expected, says Strachan

Motherwell 1 Celtic 3

Strachan is outraged photographers pictured Keane hobbling out of training on Friday after suffering a hamstring injury. They also captured the reaction of coach Tommy Burns. He has vowed to ban cameras from training sessions, while he also insists predictions surrounding the length of time the former Manchester United skipper will be out have been exaggerated.

Strachan snapped: “If we had listened to the tabloid physios we would have been looking at four to six weeks. But to those that are qualified he could be out for seven to eight days. Tomorrow you might even see him on a bike - not outside but in training.”

Celtic took advantage of Hearts’ slip-up against Kilmarnock to establish a commanding lead at the top of the table. But Strachan is refusing to rule the Edinburgh side or any of the chasing pack out of the equation.

“No it’s not over because everywhere in football there are examples that we cannot afford to take things for granted,” he continued.

“It was a great win, no doubt about that, because of the defence and there was the opportunity to lengthen our lead at the top. There was also pressure as well to handle this ‘defensive crisis’ and we handled that.”

Strachan heaped praise on his new-look centre-back partnership of Adam Virgo and Stanislav Varga. They came in from the cold - along with full-back Mo Camara - to replace the injured Keane and suspended Stephen McManus.

“Any win is a big win and to do it like that was great,” said Strachan.

Jim Hamilton cancelled out Maciej Zurawski’s opener with a major contender for goal of the season. But substitute Aiden McGeady’s deflected effort put Celtic back in front before John Hartson secured the points.

MOTHERWELL: Graeme Smith, Corrigan, Craigan, Kinniburgh (McLean 84), Hammell, Kerr, McBride, McCormack, Foran, Scott McDonald, Hamilton.

CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Virgo, Varga, Camara, Nakamura (McGeady 62), Lennon, Petrov, Maloney, Zurawski (Pearson 74), Hartson.

Referee: C Richmond (Scotland).