Celtic defender Christopher Jullien remains sidelined ahead of this afternoon’s League Cup final against Hibernian, as per Football Scotland.

The Lowdown: Teasing return

The 28-year-old is yet to feature under Ange Postecoglou and hasn’t played any competitive minutes in 2021 after suffering a serious knee injury last December.

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The Frenchman did return to the training pitch in October, though, and teased Hoops fans in recent days on social media over a shock return.

Jullien, who has been called ‘excellent’ by his former boss Neil Lennon, reposted an NFL video on his Instagram story following Postecoglou's pre-Hampden press conference with the caption: 'I'm back'.

The Latest: Jullien still out

Football Scotland reporter Ryan Mcdonald shared a preview of the League Cup final on Saturday evening.

When it came to team news, the journalist said that Postecoglou would leave it as late as possible to name his team due to various injuries, before adding that Jullien is still out with his knee problem.

The Verdict: Attackers needed

Of course, having Jullien back in the matchday squad may have given the Celtic squad a lift, but it’s further forward where their problems currently lie.

You’d expect that Postecoglou will go with regulars Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt at centre-back, but he could do with getting some attacking players back from injury. Mikey Johnston may well be one of those after he was pictured in training on Friday and it seems that Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest could also return.

Should that be the case, the Hoops would look much stronger on paper after playing two full-backs in an attacking role against Ross County on Wednesday.

In other news: Postecoglou wants 49-cap colossus at the peak of his powers to cap Celtic's January business