Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic has been ruled out for three to four months after undergoing knee surgery, manager Neil Lennon has revealed.

The Croatian international has not played since the first leg of the Europa League play-off tie against AIK Solna and underwent an arthroscopy procedure in London earlier this month.

Speaking about the length of the rehabilitation following the operation, Lennon explained that it is a lengthy process:

“You are probably looking at three to four months. It was a clean-up and he knows what to do for his rehab and we are just discussing maybe if he can go away for a few weeks and do his rehab at home. He is alright, it is a blow for us and the player.”

Simunovic is therefore not expected to be back in action before the end of the year, with a return date pencilled in for some time in January.

In terms of other injury news, Lennon confirmed that Moritz Bauer is fit to face Hibs after recovering from an ankle injury, while Marian Shved is also back in training.

Leigh Griffiths has a virus so won’t feature at Easter Road, while Nir Bitton (hamstring) and Mikey Johnston (groin) are both expected to be back fit next week.