Celtic hit by Charlie Mulgrew injury blow ahead of Europa League opener

Charlie Mulgrew will miss Celtic’s Europe League group opener with Ajax on Thursday night because of a thigh injury, Hoops assistant manager John Collins has announced.

The Parkhead defender suffered the injury in Saturday’s 2-1 Ladbrokes Premiership defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Speaking at Glasgow airport before the Celtic squad flew out to Amsterdam, former Parkhead midfielder Collins said: “Charlie is the only one not here. He has a thigh muscle injury, so we’re still waiting on confirmation of the scan result but it looks like it will be a few weeks.

“It is a blow, he’s an experienced player. He’s played in a lot of big games so we just hope he has a speedy recovery.”