Dedryck Boyata and Kieran Tierney injuries a costly blow for Celtic

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If ever there was a time to pay Dedryck Boyata and Kieran Tierney injuries, it was today.

Celtic were ridiculously unfortunate the longer the game went on against Rangers. It started with the likes of Boyata and Tierney bossing things and a 1-0 lead against 10 men.

Yet, in the closing stages of the contest, Ryan Kent had equalised, both Tierney and Boyata had to go off injured, and Celtic were also down to 10 due to the injuries.

Lennon also only had this to say on both men in his post-match interview with Celtic TV:

“We knew Kieran had an ongoing problem. But the Dedryck one is a bit of a bad one. It’s came out of left-field.”

There isn’t much to take from those words. It sounds as though Tierney was perhaps struggling with his knock after being ruled out of Scotland’s double-header against Kazakhstan and San Marino last week.

But as for Boyata, who looked to be clutching his hamstring on the way off, it looks troubling. Considering he’s now in the final couple of months of his contract, it’s realistic to think he could possibly have played his last game for the club.

Boyata a big miss

The big Belgian has been our best defender of the season, and his absence will be a big blow. Fortunately, Celtic still have Jozo Simunovic and Filip Benkovic waiting in the wings to take over as cover.

Tierney, however, could be more difficult to replace. He hopefully won’t be out for too long, and that could simply mean a return to left-back for Jonny Hayes. Hayes was positive against Rangers this afternoon, but was hooked at half-time for the disappointing Scott Sinclair.

The win today, in any case, has come at a cost. There’s yet to be any confirmed update on both players’ situations, but Lennon will likely be confident he has the cover in place to cope between now and the end of the season.

With a treble-treble still on the line, we simply need everyone to step up. Hopefully, in both Tierney and Boyata’s absences, we’ll have characters to step up and grasp the opportunities.