Celtic are facing a defensive crisis ahead of their clash with Heart of Midlothian on Sunday, with Brendan Rodgers providing a worrying update on centre back Jozo Simunovic.
The 24-year-old was taken off on a stretcher during the Hoops’ 2-0 Europa League defeat to RB Leipzig on Thursday and, with Dedryck Boyata suspended, Rodgers has only Jack Hendry and Filip Benkovic available at the heart of his defence on Sunday.
The Bhoys boss was not confident on Simunovic’s availability: “Jozo looks like he’ll be struggling,” he told the Scottish Sun. “He took an awkward landing when he jumped for the ball.
“He will be a question mark for the weekend. Unfortunately Boyata – who I thought was outstanding tonight – won’t be available at the weekend. But Jozo will struggle to make it,” he said.
OPINION
This is really disconcerting news for Celtic fans. The Betfred Cup semi-final with Hearts was shaping up to be a massive game for Rodgers’s side as it was, but now they’ll really have to pull out all the stops to make it past Craig Levein’s side. It’s going to be a tough task for the Hoops to beat Hearts with a centre back pairing of Hendry and Benkovic. The latter has made just four appearances for the club since joining on loan from Leicester City this summer, while Hendry has been limited to three Scottish Premiership starts this term due to injury. The pair will have to rise to the occasion because it doesn’t sound as if Rodgers has much hope of Simunovic being available – while Boyata definitely isn’t. However, this is why you have a squad of players and the two young men now need to step up to the plate. Let’s hope they can do just that against a terrific Hearts side.