Nat Phillips looks set to return for Celtic imminently, saving Brendan Rodgers a major headache next week.
The Liverpool defender, on loan at Celtic until January, went off injured in his debut for the club. Phillips has sat out our last two games — against Feyenoord and Livingston — but could return against Motherwell this weekend.
Rodgers and Celtic are facing a real centre-back shortage for next week’s UEFA Champions League clash against Lazio. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh are both still injured, Maik Nawrocki is injured and not registered anyway, while Gustaf Lagerbielke is suspended after his red in Rotterdam.
That effectively leaves just Liam Scales and Phillips for the game, with midfielder Tomoki Iwata the only other potential option. Not having Phillips would leave Rodgers with a major headache. However, it does seem very much like the defender will be back for the Lazio clash, and probably for Motherwell too.
“Hopefully for the weekend,” Rodgers said when asked about his situation. “He’s come in and rejoined the group. We just have to make sure with his ankle but that looks much better.” (Celtic YouTube)
In his written press comments, Rodgers said: “I need players that are going to be fit and who can come in and do the job.
“It’s just really unfortunate that, right at the end of the half, he twisted the ankle and it was quite sore.” (Daily Mail)
The context for the first portion of those latter quotes is not totally clear. Rodgers is likely just talking generally about players being fit. But we do need Phillips to step up quickly, even if he is just in the door.
The Champions League is an unforgiving environment. Liam Scales and a loanee from Liverpool may not have been everyone’s preference at the start of the season, but the guys will need to roll their sleeves up and deal with Lazio’s undoubted quality.
Motherwell won’t be an easy match either. Three points are imperative.
In other news, a special Celtic Park night that could have been even more memorable
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