Brendan Rodgers will be hoping his Celtic players do the talking on the pitch in Kazakhstan.
It’s plain for everyone to see what and how much is riding on this Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty on Tuesday night.
Both teams shared the spoils for the first leg in Glasgow last week, in what was a pretty flat performance from the champions of Scotland in front of the Celtic Park supporters.
And, as Charlie Mulgrew alluded to, that goalless draw against Kairat Almaty came at a cost in one area of the pitch for Rodgers.
Alistair Johnston’s absence for Celtic’s Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty
It was a sight nobody wanted to see when Alistair Johnston hobbled off against Kairat after 35 minutes, and now Celtic’s starting right-back is sidelined for 12 weeks with a hamstring injury.
Speaking on Go Radio, Mulgrew pointed out how Johnston is going to be a ‘huge, huge miss’ for Rodgers on that right flank.
But the former Celtic defender also rightfully pointed out that the Ange Postecoglou signing is somebody who is ‘taken for granted.’
“That’s a big loss,” said Mulgrew about Johnston’s injury. “That’s massive. He’s a huge, huge miss. He is somebody you take for granted.”
How Anthony Ralston rated against Livingston
The man who is going to be tasked to step in for Johnston is the ever-reliable Anthony Ralston, and he started Celtic’s win over Livingston on Saturday afternoon.
Ralston has always been the backup option, but with a huge week awaiting the club, he is starting to get some much-needed minutes and form under his belt.
This is how WhoScored and 67 Hail Hail rated Ralston’s performance against Livi, with now an even bigger pressure cooker game against Kairat coming up.
67 Hail Hail: (5) It’s clear that Ralston isn’t a quality back-up for Alistair Johnston. But he will be the main man at right-back until the Canadian is fit again in December.
WhoScored: (7.61)
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