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Martin O’Neill has revealed he was as surprised as anyone to learn that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss Celtic’s first three European games of the season, beginning with LASK at Celtic Park on Wednesday night in the Champions League play-off first leg. Having not been part of Celtic’s Europa League squad against Stuttgart, he is now included in the Champions League squad. O’Neill spoke about the blow, with Arne Engels’ move to West Ham now official and the Celtic boss facing a major decision over who starts alongside Callum McGregor. He said: (TCW), “And I think that there’s some news, you’ll have to tell me, please, that he might be suspended then for these games? “I’ve got a three-match book now, second yellow card, which seems really harsh, I think, but about 27 years ago, they must have just been waiting for him to get another game. “We weren’t aware of that at the time, and Alex certainly didn’t make us aware of it, but he wouldn’t have known, in fairness, and I think he thought because there was a couple of games after that for his club team. “I think he wasn’t involved with the club then, not involved with it, but didn’t get into the squad, therefore, as a consequence, that doesn’t count.” It is certainly a major blow given Engels’ exit, and thankfully Celtic were aware of the suspension ahead of the tie. Had Oxlade-Chamberlain featured while suspended, Celtic could have faced serious UEFA consequences. The same applies to Miguel Chaiwa with Hibernian and William Clem with Copenhagen, meaning the only central midfield target currently eligible would be Gvidas Gineitis. CeltsAreHere understands that a deal for Gineitis is unlikely to be completed before Tuesday, meaning Mika Baur could be handed a huge opportunity to start and show why Celtic paid around £6.8 million to sign him.