Celtic’s centre-backs, at the moment, have to be protected at all cost by the fitness team at Parkhead.
The latest injury blow to hit the back-line is that of Jack Hendry. Sure, he may just be the last in line for a shot at one of our centre-back positions. But at the end of the day, that line isn’t exactly the length of Sauchiehall Street.
According to the Scottish Sun, Neil Lennon simply said that Hendry is out due to a “knock picked up in training”. It doesn’t sound too serious, and hopefully, it isn’t. But what it should be is a real warning for Celtic to bring another centre-back in before the window closes.
Lennon has hinted already that he’ll look to do this. But he said that Celtic will only “possibly” bring in another centre-back. It was hardly portrayed as a necessity, but Lenny did sound keen on bringing another in (Daily Record). All you have to do, however, is look at our reinforcements when we have niggles and bumps to see how much of a necessity it is.
For tonight’s clash in Sarajevo, we only have Jozo Simunovic available to play at the back as a substitute. That’s assuming Christopher Jullien is fit enough to start alongside Kristoffer Ajer. But even so, it wasn’t long ago we were sweating on a potential ban for Simunovic in this one (Scottish Sun). If that occurred, we would’ve had no natural alternatives.
Celtic’s centre-backs have whittle down
Getting rid of Marvin Compper was the correct decision, and that goes without saying. But it’s essential we bring another in when you consider the injury record of Simunovic and even Ajer to an extent.
Celtic always seem to get it rough when it comes to centre-back injuries. We need to stock up well for the coming season to make sure we always have available reinforcements. Going to an Ibrox, Pittodrie, Easter Road or Tynecastle with no defenders in reserve would be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Fortunately, it does look as though Lennon is looking at the area still despite the arrival of Jullien. It’s important to remember that we lost two centre-backs last summer. Therefore, both have to be replaced considering the quality Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata brought to us.
The lack of competition at the moment could end up seeing a return for Hendry this season at some stage. Many fans won’t want that, but he must be itching to rebuild his reputation once again with a handful of games.
As of yet, a deal for another defender doesn’t look close. That’s a tad concerning, but nothing to overly-worry about since the domestic campaign hasn’t yet kicked off. When it does, here’s hoping we have another centre-back in to avoid any careless defensive catastrophes.
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