Addressing reporters at his pre-match press conference ahead of Celtic’s Europa League clash with AS Roma at Celtic Park, manager Wilfried Nancy offered a fitness update on Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho.

Although Iheanacho remains hopeful of securing a place in Nigeria's final squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, the former Manchester City academy forward appears unlikely to travel to Morocco, having been sidelined for almost two months and without competitive action for both club and country.

The 2013 Fifa U17 World Cup Golden Ball winner sustained a hamstring injury during Celtic’s Europa League victory over Sturm Graz, and has since missed ten consecutive matches across all competitions. 

He was named on the bench for recent fixtures against Feyenoord and Heart of Midlothian, though he did not feature.

Nancy confirmed that Iheanacho is edging closer to a long-awaited return, but stressed that the club will adopt a cautious approach.

In quotes relayed by The Daily Record, he told reporters: "He has trained well. After that, he needs minutes. It has been a long time, two months since he really played. 

"The way we work the players who have not played regularly we try to get them through physical work to get back into the rhythm.

"For the moment obviously he is not fit to play a lot of minutes but a few minutes, yes."