Eight months since his season ended due to a ruptured Achilles, American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers made his long-awaited return for Scottish Premiership winners Celtic. Carter-Vickers played 45 minutes from the start in Celtic’s 1-1 preseason draw with Republic of Ireland club Shelbourne on Tuesday. The veteran defender had been out of action for Martin O’Neill’s squad since last October after a season-ending injury abruptly halted his campaign and ended his quest of making the U.S. Men’s National Team’s FIFA World Cup roster. Despite getting back to training before the end of the 2025-26 season, Carter-Vickers was not risked over the final few weeks of the season, watching as Celtic dramatically recaptured the SPFL title. In addition, the Hoops also completed the domestic double by defeating Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 in the Scottish Cup Final one week later, giving Carter-Vickers his ninth trophy with the club. After logging his first minutes of preseason on Tuesday, Carter-Vickers voiced his pleasure is getting back to action. “I’ve been training for a little while,” Carter-Vickers said in an interview, transcribed by The Glasgow Times. “I trained back into the last season and then the first couple of weeks of pre-season, so I was pretty confident I would be fine injury-wise, but yes, it’s good to get back playing football and build up that football fitness.”Carter-Vickers’ absence for the final seven months of the season opened the door for fellow USMNT defender Auston Trusty to jump into the starting lineup. Trusty would prove to be a key player in O’Neill’s squad, finishing the season with 41 appearances (second-most in his career) and forcing his way into Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for the World Cup. While sitting on the sidelines was tough for Carter-Vickers, he accepted the injury and focused on making the most of his rehabilitation period. “You want to be out there helping the team, especially with the season we had last year, you kind of want to be there with the boys and do what you can to help the team, but I just took it day by day,” Carter-Vickers said. “I was taking the small wins in terms of the rehab process, but yes, it’s just something you get on with and move on with.”O’Neill is back at Celtic after re-signing a one-year contract, giving Carter-Vickers a chance to feature under the 74-year-old in competitive play. The longtime manager helped Celtic erase a horrendous first half of the season in Glasgow and seal a return to the UEFA Champions League, as well as continue their domestic dominance of rivals Rangers. Carter-Vickers was able to watch O’Neill week in week out, admitting that he gets the best out of his players in order to achieve results. “I just think he’s a really good manager, gets the best out of players and just leads the team in that way really,” Carter-Vickers said. “I think his biggest strength is his man-management and getting the best from players.”Carter-Vickers and Celtic will continue their preseason schedule with upcoming matches against Sporting Lisbon, Middlesbrough and AC Milan before opening SPFL play on August 3 against Dundee FC.