Celtic will be without their best centre-back for a few weeks, according to Brendan Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers has told a pre-match press conference, as reported by The Record, that Celtic ace Jozo Simunovic is set to miss a “few weeks” at least.
The Croatian centre-back was unavailable for Celtic’s 3-0 Champions League defeat away to Bayern Munich on Wednesday after suffering a hamstring problem.
It’s the same injury which has kept the 23-year-old out since before the last international break and Rodgers confirmed he won’t be available for a while.
Consequently, Simunovic will miss Saturday’s League Cup semi with Hibernian at Hampden Park and next week’s top-of-the-table clash with Aberdeen.
“It’s a repeat of what he had before so probably out for a few weeks but I’ll get more detail on that today,” he said in a press conference, via The Record.
Losing Simunovic for both games – and possibly the return fixture against Bayern – is a big blow and it remains to be seen how Celtic cope.
Simply put, he is far and away Rodgers’s best centre-back and the Northern Irishman will need to shuffle his pack to determine who partners Dedryck Boyata tomorrow.
Erik Sviatchenko is close to being fully fit after a three-month absence, while Mikael Lustig plugged gaps in central defence for the Hoops in Bavaria during the week.
Rodgers could also call on 19-year-old Kristoffer Ajer or centre-midfielder Nir Bitton.
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