Celtic’s Training Update: O’Neill's Recovery and Jota's Return

Martin O’Neill stayed away from Celtic’s final training session before Sunday’s Premiership trip to Kilmarnock as he continues his recovery from a brief spell in hospital this week.

The 74-year-old underwent what the club described on Wednesday as a “small procedure”, with the expectation he would be discharged within 48 hours. Since then he has not returned to Lennoxtown, leaving Shaun Maloney to run first‑team preparations alongside coaches Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus.

Maloney, already a prominent figure on the training pitch, now steps fully into the foreground. He is set to handle media duties in O’Neill’s place, including Celtic’s pre-match press conference this afternoon, as the club waits to see whether their manager will be well enough to take his place in the technical area at Rugby Park. For now, that call remains unresolved.

While O’Neill’s absence cast a shadow over the session, there was a significant lift elsewhere on the grass.

Jota steps back into the frame

Jota joined in with the first-team group as he moves into the final stretch of his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury that has kept him out for more than a year. The Portuguese winger’s return to full training has been long in coming and keenly anticipated.

He suffered a cruciate ligament tear at Tannadice in April 2025 and has endured a gruelling recovery, punctuated by setbacks that wiped out any hope of featuring in the closing weeks of last season. On Friday, though, he was back among his team-mates, edging closer to a competitive comeback that once felt a distant prospect.

As Celtic head to Rugby Park with uncertainty over who will stand in the dugout, the sight of Jota back in the thick of it offered a reminder: while the present demands careful management, the longer view still holds reasons for optimism.