Brendan Rodgers is set to play Jack Hendry at the heart of Celtic’s defence against Zenit St Petersburg, according to the Scottish Sun.
The newspaper claim that the Hoops manager will have no worries about starting the 22-year-old against the Russian giants when the sides meet in the Europa League on February 15.
The Scottish Sun report that due to suffering injuries in the 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock, Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer are both highly unlikely to be fit enough to play against Zenit St Petersburg.
The newspaper’s report reveals that Ajer is more likely than Boyata to be available for the game, with Rodgers waiting to find out the extent of their injuries.
Hendry joined the Hoops from Dundee on deadline day for a fee of £1.5million, according to the Daily Record, and made his Celtic debut against Kilmarnock on Saturday.
The 22-year-old is the most likely option that Rodgers will call upon if Boyata and Ajer are unavailable as his other centre-backs are both unavailable to play Zenit.
Marvin Compper is ineligible to play in the competition and Mikael Lustig will still be sidelined through injury when the Hoops play the Russian side.
OPINION
Hendry failed to impress on his Celtic debut on Saturday and it’s asking a lot of the 22-year-old to be able to perform against Zenit St Peterburg. The young centre-back has only made a total of 57 senior appearances in his career and has never played in a competition as difficult as the Europa League before. Hendry cannot be expected to be able to cope with Zenit’s attack which has seen them sit second in the Russian Premier League. Rodgers may not worry about playing the 22-year-old but supporters will be concerned. Celtic fans will be crossing their fingers that Boyata and Ajer are passed fit for the clash against Zenit.