Mowbray needs touch of Fortune

EUROPA LEAGUE/Hamburg v Celtic: TONY MOWBRAY is considering starting fit-again Marc-Antoine Fortune in tonight’s crunch Europa…

EUROPA LEAGUE/Hamburg v Celtic:TONY MOWBRAY is considering starting fit-again Marc-Antoine Fortune in tonight's crunch Europa League meeting with Hamburg. Fortune came on as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 3-0 Premier League win over Kilmarnock, his first action since injuring his knee against Arsenal in August.

Sitting at the bottom of Europa League Group C with just one point from three games, Celtic need a victory to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the knockout phase.

Consequently, Celtic boss Mowbray will have to decide whether former Nancy striker Fortune is worth risking.

“Marco is fit and ready,” Mowbray said. “He’s been out for nine weeks and got 20 minutes or half an hour the other day. Am I tempted to play him? Yes.

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“The more high-quality players on the pitch, the better it is but we have some strikers who will be bursting to score.

“So we will wait and see what we decide.”

Mowbray refused to accept the win-or-bust scenario his side find themselves in with three games remaining.

Celtic flew to Hamburg without key men Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney.

Both midfielders missed Saturday’s win against Kilmarnock, Brown with his troublesome ankle problem and Maloney with a recurrence of tendonitis in his Achilles.

Former Derry City winger Paddy McCourt is likely to replace Maloney in the squad.