Celts beat United but Thompson injured

Celtic 2 Manchester United 1

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill had good news on Alan Thompson’s injury scare but admitted that he would miss the season opener with Motherwell.

The English midfielder had only just returned from a calf injury but was left in pain by a challenge from youngster Chris Eagles in the 2-1 victory over Manchester United.

It was first feared he had suffered a serious injury after being stretchered off but O’Neill confirmed that he had only come off with a stud mark on his shin which required stitches.

The Celtic boss said: “Alan has a stud mark.

“Roddy Macdonald (the doctor) cleaned out the the wound and he thinks it might take a little bit of time to heal up.

“It was a blow considering the season is only 10 days away and that appears to be too early for him.”

O'Neill refused to comment on the imminent season-loan signing of Henri Camara but he revealed that new arrivals would be on the way.

“We are making some sort of progress but at this minute I have not much to tell you but I am confident of bringing some reinforcements to the club,” added O’Neill.

“I would not have any other comment to make. We have been linked with so many players and one day you will be right.”

Meanwhile Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson revealed that Paul Scholes and Mikael Silvestre will link up with the squad today.

They are both expected to face AC Milan in the final game of the series in New York on Saturday.

Strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha have been pencilled in for the Vodafone Cup next week.

United hope to round off with a victory after a draw and a defeat on their 10-day tour.

Ferguson, however, was delighted with the contribution of Alan Smith in the defeat by Celtic.

“He has come in here and not blinked,” he said. “He has great confidence and that is impressive.

“He could have got four goals in this game, not one.”

Ferguson added: “This game had a quicker competitive edge to it than the one against Bayern Munich.

“We played some intelligent football and we got some of our key players back, which was important.”