Celtic's Henrik Larsson will today undergo an operation in a Glasgow hospital to decide whether he still has a future as a professional footballer after breaking his leg in two places shortly after the start of Thursday's UEFA Cup tie in Lyon.

The Celtic striker is almost certainly already ruled out of the rest of the season, including Sweden's European Championship campaign.

As was to be expected John Barnes, the Celtic manager, made all the right noises as Larsson awaited surgery and his teammates rallied round after taking stock of what happened in the 12th minute at the Stade Gerland, but it was too early for a considered prognosis.

"I have talked to the surgeon and he says that he has seen this kind of injury before and people have made comebacks from it," Barnes said. "It is bad in the sense that it is a double fracture of the leg but he tells me that he has performed this operation successfully in the past.

"Henrik will come to terms with it because he has great strength of character. I know that, when I snapped my own achilles tendon and was out for eight months, all I did from the moment it happened was to count the number of days until I would be back playing, and I am sure that he will be the same."

Barnes cleared up some confusion about what had happened, as television pictures appeared to show that the bone had come through the skin, an important factor in such injuries as it can lead to infection. "We all felt that was the case at the time, but it transpired that it was his shin pad which had come out of place," the manager said.

Larsson's prospects depend largely on the amount of soft tissue destroyed in the accident, and the extent of that may not be known for months.

Larsson's 51 goals in 16 months have made him Celtic's best signing, possibly of all time, but Barnes is nothing if not professional and his job yesterday was to dispel the doom and gloom among the club's supporters as the season comes to a challenging point.

"I don't want to be misunderstood here," he said. "This is a serious blow to the player and the club and everyone feels it. He's the sort of man who makes friends as well as colleagues. But if I was to send any other message apart from the fact that we still have a good team, we might as well just pack in right now.

"He has scored 51 goals but what have Celtic won? Now we have internationals all over the side and even without Henrik we intend to challenge in the league and in Europe.

"To say that it is over because one player - admittedly an important one - is out is rather to insult the rest of the staff. He may be a talisman but we have a lot of other qualities and they will come through," Barnes added.

Neither will Celtic be tempted into rushing out and buying a replacement. Mark Burchill, the 19-year-old who won his first Scottish cap this month, replaced Larsson in France and stays in the side against St Johnstone in Perth tomorrow. That chance could well be the making of him, but any further injuries to strikers would leave the cupboard looking very bare.

"We lost three times to St Johnstone last season so it's yet another important game," Barnes said. "They all are." There was precious little room for humour yesterday but Barnes admitted that he might buy the Swede a bunch of grapes when he visited him in hospital later in the day. This club, more than most, knows how to rally round.

Celtic's other striker Mark Viduka, is set to stay at the club. It had been widely reported that his Croatian girlfriend Ivana Husidic could not settle in the city. But she said yesterday that she was happy in Glasgow.

The 21-year-old Scotland international midfield player Barry Ferguson has signed a new sixyear contract with Rangers. His manager Dick Advocaat said: "He's a big talent and it's a big advantage for this club that he has signed for us."

Crystal Palace have taken Everton defender Terry Phelan on a month's loan. Phelan is available to make his debut today against Tranmere Rovers.