Celtic’s hard-fought win over Aberdeen came at a cost to Brendan Rodgers. Injuries to Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate will be a cause for concern for the Celtic boss as the fixtures come thick and fast.
After losing Carl Starfelt to Celta Vigo last week, Celtic are now in the hunt to add another central defender to the ranks. Gustaf Lagerbiekle appears to be that man but former Celtic hero, Stan Petrov, reckons that adding just one defender will not be enough.
Petrov said [Sky Sports], “As Brendan Rodgers mentioned they are looking in every area. I’m not surprised. A club as big as Celtic, you have to be proactive all the time. You have to look to strengthen the squad but we saw today that a centre-back is a must.
“I hope that [Cameron] Carter-Vickers won’t be out for long because you’ve seen with the big games coming up we, obviously, can’t afford to lose him.
“And something that I mentioned earlier about needing not one, but two [central defenders], you need another one who must be a starter, must be beside Carter-Vickers and you need a backup because it’s a long season.”
Celtic’s fixtures are coming thick and fast
Celtic now face the possibility of going into an important part of the season without Cameron Carter-Vickers. Although there is no great detail known about his injury we all know a hamstring issue is never a good one.
Up next for Brendan Rodgers’ men is the defence of the league cup against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday. Six days later we have St Johnstone at home before the first Glasgow Derby of the season at Ibrox on the 3rd of September.
The international break kicks in after that and then we move into a crucial period where the Champions League group stages begin and two games per week become the norm.
Celtic will not only need the squad depth to cope with this but also quality within that. With Yuki Kobayashi and Stephen Welsh being the only two backup options, questions will be asked whether both are good enough to take the club forward this season.
With plenty of transfer funds available to Rodgers to play with, the Celtic manager has the means and, for now, the time to get extra bodies in the door before the window closes on the 1st of September.
In other news, Gustaf Lagerbiekle speaks as Celtic speculation ramps up
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