Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo ruled out for a month with ankle injury

Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo has been ruled out of action for the next month after picking up an injury at the weekend.

The 23-year-old suffered an ankle knock in the 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers and missed the midweek game against Bayern Munich as a result.

He will now also miss the visit of Dundee United on Saturday with Brendan Rodgers revealing he will be out for around four to five weeks.

Speaking to the media on Friday, the Celtic manager said: “Paulo will be out for a few weeks, he’s got his ankle in a boot so he will be four or five weeks.

“There is nothing from the game on Wednesday and everyone else will be available.

“With so many games just now our depth is needed, Paulo has obviously done great for us this season. What we have tried to do with all the players is to keep them fit by rotating and maximising the whole squad.

“Sadly he will be out now for a little while, but we still have good numbers in that position”

Bernardo has made 36 appearances across all competitions and scored three goals for the Premiership leaders this season since joining on a permanent deal from Benfica in the summer, following a successful loan spell at Parkhead in the 2023/24 double winning campaign.

The Portugal under-21 international’s injury will limit Rodgers’ ability to rotate his midfield for the game against Dundee United, with the second leg of the Champions League clash with Munich to come on Tuesday.

“We’ll do what we’ve done most of the season,” said Rodgers, who revealed that winger James Forrest had started running again after a foot injury.

“There’s some positions that we’ll freshen up. Of course, you can’t not look at Tuesday because the turnaround is so fast. And we know that we’ll have to be at a real high level physically for that game.

“But I also know the bread and butter, we need to be at a good physical level for this game.

“Since the last time Dundee United played, we’ve played four games in that period but we will still bring the freshness. And I have to think of that when I’m picking the team to find the intensity and look to get the result. And then hopefully from that, we then go on to Tuesday. But it’s all about the recovery now and then picking a team that can be fresh.”

Rodgers has stressed to his players that dealing with fatigue comes with playing for Celtic.

“Every game is important here,” he said. “I think players understand that. If they don’t initially, they will do. And obviously it’s my job to drive that and to lead that.

“It’s been a real unrelenting schedule but the players have been brilliant. There’s been nothing other than focus. We maybe had the Dundee game at the back end of seven games in 21 days where I felt we just weren’t quite there in our pressing. But we take our point and we learn and we move on.

“We’re ready, you have to be. It’s not a case of ‘you won’t be tired’. You will have moments of tiredness but that’s being at a big club.

“I said to Arne Engels when he came in at the beginning that his one-game-a-week holiday was finished at Augsburg. You’re coming into a big club where there’s no holidays here, and he now knows what I was talking about.

“He and all the players have been absolutely brilliant. Being a top player is managing the fatigue, managing the tiredness because you’ve got to deliver.”