Celtic's 4-1 defeat at home at the hands of VfB Stuttgart in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League this week came as a major blow for the fans, who had been hoping for Martin O'Neill to come up with another miracle in Europe. Unfortunately, there are limits to what even the club icon can achieve with the squad that he has at his disposal, especially with the injury problems on top of that.

That tie seems as good as over, even though the second leg in Germany is yet to be played. Unfortunately, getting a result from this position seems improbable for Celtic.

The focus will need to turn towards domestic competition. Perhaps it has always been there. Next up for Celtic is a Sunday home game against Hibernian, which they must use to bounce back from the disappointment of this week.

A bit further down the line, they have two matches against the Rangers coming up early in March. Both of them will be played at Ibrox, first in the Premiership and second in the Scottish Cup.

Those two fixtures could prove to be make-or-break for the rest of Celtic's season. They need to win both. But their shaky record against the Rangers in recent times will worry the supporters going into next month's double Glasgow Derbies.

While Celtic have plenty to be concerned about, the Rangers seemingly have their own worries as well. They have not been particularly impressive this season either. Danny Rohl has steadied the ship somewhat, but they are not world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination. And now, they have an injury to be worried about as well.

Rohl had refused to name names while confessing one of his players could be ruled out for up to three weeks. Now, according to the Daily Record, Dujon Sterling is the player facing a race against time to make the league derby on March 1 and then the Scottish Cup fixture a week later.

This has been an injury-riddled season for Sterling, who looks set for his third spell out on the sidelines. When fit, he has been a starter. But fitness issues have meant that he has been restricted to making just 10 appearances across all competitions.

Of course, the last thing on Celtic's mind right now will be the injury status of Rangers players. They have plenty on their own plate to worry about.

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