The Hoops left-back will not feature against the La Liga side but Brendan Rodgers has several options at his disposal.
With Celtic preparing for Thursday night’s Europa League round of 32 first leg against Valencia, there was one setback for the Scottish Premiership leaders in the shape of Kieran Tierney being unavailable for the game.
Absent since mid-December with an ongoing hip complaint, the 21-year-old is back in training but will not be considered for the match against the La Liga side, Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed on Wednesday (The Herald).
There had been reports that Tierney was desperate to feature against Valencia, including pleading with Rodgers for the right to play (Scottish Sun), but as it stands, Celtic will have to take to the pitch without him.
However, the report – from Tuesday – also suggested that Emilio Izaguirre was injured, but Rodgers confirmed on Wednesday that the 32-year-old is “fit and available” alongside Jozo Simunovic.
Although Izaguirre didn’t feature in the game against Rangers at the end of last year, since the break he has started every Premiership game, only coming off late on against Hibernian due to injury (Transfermarkt).
Had Tierney been rushed back against Valencia, he wouldn’t have been match fit and could have risked aggravating his issues, while Izaguirre is match-ready and has been competent enough as a stand-in for his colleague.
Alternatively, Rodgers could always stick to his line-up from the win over St Johnstone, with Jonny Hayes as a left-back (as seen here) or even try out Jeremy Toljan on the other flank (Transfermarkt details he can and has featured on the left) and bring Mikael Lustig at right-back.
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