Filip Benkovic couldn’t play for Celtic today due to injury.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Filip Benkovic withdrew himself from this afternoon’s defeat by Kilmarnock.
The 21-year-old centre-back was set to start alongside Dedryck Boyata at the heart of Celtic’s defence.
But Benkovic, a season-long loan signing from Leicester City, fell injured in the warm-up and was replaced by Jack Hendry.
The Croat and Boyata have been Celtic’s first-choice centre-back partnership this season, and Rodgers says that Benkovic made the decision to omit himself from proceedings.
He told The Record: “It’s not ideal but you have to get on with it. Filip felt his Achilles in the warm-up and he was too much of a risk.
“He felt he couldn’t continue and we had to make the change. That’s why we have a squad though and why we ask players to be ready.”
Benkovic, a £13 million signing by Leicester in January, is a top defender, but the same can’t be said for Hendry at the moment.
It has been a miserable start to the season for the former Dundee centre-back, who has suffered with fitness and form.
And his latest performance is hardly going to spike his confidence any time soon.
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