Celtic enter a crucial period with a heavily depleted squad due to injuries to Kelechi Iheanacho, Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota. The club has not made permanent January signings, registering only loan arrivals Julian Araujo and Tomas Cvancara. A win over Utrecht will secure progression to the Europa League play-offs. Squad strengthening in January is deemed essential to handle the congested schedule and lack of midweek breaks if progression continues. Celtic sit 24th in the 36-team European table. Utrecht have one point from seven group fixtures and a prolonged away win drought in major European matches.
""We need to strengthen the squad, that's what we're trying to do. Whether we have anyone in for Sunday, I don't know," O'Neill told reporters. "We are making strenuous efforts to improve the team. I think that we can do something. I know days are pressing; that's very, very obvious. I'm hopeful.""
""You are absolutely right. If we were lucky enough to get through, you're going to play at least a couple of games; there's no midweek break - that's the problem. You do need a proper squad for that. Not that it was something that was discussed after the game in Bologna, but I thought with the red card in the game at Hearts, we stuck it out. But they were out on their feet.""
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