Callum Osmand was forced off during Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo on Thursday night, just four days after his double against Hearts ended with a half-time substitution.

James Forrest replaced the 20-year-old after 58 minutes at Celtic Park, with Osmand struggling to move freely before coming off.

Given how much football he’s missed through injury, the sight of him pulling up again was worrying.

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Martin O’Neill explains Callum Osmand’s Celtic injury scare

Martin O’Neill says Osmand was suffering from cramp during Celtic’s defeat to Celta Vigo on Thursday night.

Asked about the youngster on BBC Sportsound, O’Neill said: “Yeah, he was cramping, and that’s totally understandable, really understandable from his viewpoint.”

“He’s had very little football. He’s been injured basically since the start of the season.”

“He’s coming around. He’s done really well for us. And, yeah, and it was that. He just, each time he was moving in the last three or four minutes, he was just cramping.”

Why Celtic are being careful with Callum Osmand’s fitness

Before Sunday’s game against Hearts, O’Neill admitted Osmand had played only 45 minutes all season. Those minutes came against Benfica in Lisbon, where he made his comeback after months out injured.

Osmand then started against Hearts and scored twice in the first half. But O’Neill revealed afterwards that he had felt his hamstring.

The youngster wanted to play on, but the Celtic boss wasn’t prepared to risk it after the hamstring injury that had previously kept him out for months.

Another 58 minutes against Celta Vigo takes Osmand’s total to 148 minutes across three appearances in seven days.

That’s a lot of football in a short spell for someone who had barely kicked a ball competitively since the start of the campaign.

Osmand has scored twice since returning, but has also struggled to complete his last two appearances.

At least O’Neill’s latest explanation suggests Celtic aren’t dealing with another hamstring injury.