Aaron Hickey injury opens door to Tony Ralston’s Euros inclusion

Brentford’s Aaron Hickey will be out for the foreseeable after a recurrence of his hamstring injury. This is worrying for the young-fullback with the European Championships on the horizon in June. However, it could be an opportunity for Celtic’s Tony Ralston.

Hickey’s injury was confirmed by Manager Thomas Frank, who gave an update on the injury and confirmed there was no return date for the 21-year-old.

As reported by the Brentford club website, Frank said that the former Celtic academy prospect had suffered a suspect from the injury that has kept him sidelined since October.

“Unfortunately, he has had a minor setback,” said Frank.

“He will be out for a while. I don’t have a return date right now. I hope [to see him again this season], but sometimes when players have been out for a while, I like to see them back out on the grass before I make a guess on what’s possible.

“It’s not completely torn; he just had an operation on his hamstring.”

Ralston will start in Celtic’s Scottish Cup clash with St Mirren tomorrow and look to impress with Alistair Johnston set for a spell on the sidelines. Ralston has only made 13 appearances this season but given that Steve Clarke has given him all of his six caps, the former WBA and Killie boss could give him a place in his squad for the games in the summer.

Clarke will be considering who is in his 23-man squad and if Ralston can seize the jersey from Johnston over the next few weeks, he can push his way into the reckoning to make his way to Germany.