Hoops boss Strachan insists he cannot afford to tiptoe around Maloney's double hamstring injury, with the race for the title looking set to go down to the wire.

Midfielder Maloney has been plagued by the problem for four months, making just one first-team appearance in that time.

He was an unused substitute in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Hearts and could be set to complete his comeback against Aberdeen this weekend.

Strachan told Celtic View: "Shaun will play a part in the run-in, there's no doubt about that.

"Will we be careful with him? We don't have time to be careful.

"It's not a physical problem with Shaun now. It's just getting things clear in his head that he is fine now."

Maloney, who rejoined Celtic in August after an unhappy spell at Aston Villa, was flown to Germany to undergo treatment from world-renowned specialist Dr Hans Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.

The player believes Muller-Wohlfahrt got to the root of the problem, which he traced to the 26-year-old's back.