Despite the obvious best wishes of Celtic fans all over the world, there will be a lingering and muffled sense of dodging a bullet with regards to the current injury history of Hoops favourite Kieran Tierney.
Speaking to Sport Bible, the 22-year-old revealed that he felt his shoulder dislocate three times in his last fixture against West Ham, immediately knowing that he was facing yet another extended period on the sidelines, after just 11 appearances for Arsenal.
“The night at West Ham was a hard one for me with a dislocated shoulder in the first ten minutes and straight away you know what you have done.
“And then another ten minutes later I done the same thing again but I landed differently.
“Then it was a set piece and my arm just went into a position where it wasn’t comfortable at all and dislocated.
“Mentally it was probably the toughest time of my life. In my head I was thinking, ‘I need an operation now’. I knew.
“Three times in ten minutes, nobody’s shoulder should be going like that. So in my head as I was lying down I was thinking, ‘That’s me out for another few months’.
“I knew that devastation straight away and I think you can see it on my face.”
After hip and groin problems restricted his final season in his beloved green and white shirt, he had to wait until the end of September to pull on the red and white of the Gunners following his record-breaking £25m move from Glasgow.
For many, the coronavirus pandemic will be a frustration but for the Scotland international left-back, it is an opportunity to recover and rehabilitate properly without risking further injury.
Tierney has been around for a long time already and with 11 trophies, 12 caps and 180 senior appearances. He has achieved more than some players will in their entire career, however, it is this workload, at such a young age, that may be a causative factor to him breaking down so frequently in recent years.
The extended break that the fixture suspension has afforded him will do much to allow his body to fully recover from the wear and tear suffered in his formative years as he looks to re-establish himself, not only as Arsenal’s first-choice left-back but to regain his place in the Scotland team when the Nations League play-offs are eventually completed.