Fortuné Return Delights Mowbray​

After 8 weeks out as a result of injury, Tony Mowbray was today thrilled to announce the imminent return of his marquee summer signing – Marc-Antoine Fortuné.

Fortuné, who suffered ligament damage playing against Arsenal back in August, was brought to the club not as a prolific scorer but for his all-round contribution. Although he struggled to get off the mark for the Bhoys – a handful of missed chances against Aberdeen on the opening day of the SPL season the most noteworthy – Mowbray clearly feels that Celtic have struggled in his absence:

“I don’t like making excuses,” Mowbray stated, “but we have been without Marc-Antoine for about 8 weeks. When he comes back, hopefully he will bring something to the team. He took a bit of unfair criticism early on because he wasn’t scoring, but the team was winning. We will see what he does bring to the team when he comes back, because we have missed him.”

Fortuné - missed greatly in recent months.​

Although Fortuné’s absence cannot be viewed as the sole contributor for Celtic’s recent poor run of form, the Bhoys’ performances with the striker up front showed great promise. After the Pittodrie encounter, Mowbray commented that “Marco is here for a reason. Our midfielders have been scoring goals, and did so again. I don’t think this is coincidence, and I’m delighted they did this. It was a trait of our play at West Brom that our midfielders scored a lot of goals, and I want that here too.”

Significant news, for a Celtic team keen to turn the corner both domestically and on the European scene. With current strikers Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras far from lighting up the scoring charts, and midfield continuing to contribute little in terms of goals in Fortuné’s absence, it is hoped that his return will have a positive influence in the weeks and months that lie ahead.

DM