‘We’ll see what January brings’ – Rodgers makes big hint about Celtic squad depth
By James Black
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has hinted he will bring in a new centre-back in January after seeing his defence decimated by injuries so far this season.
Dedryck Boyata, Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko and right-back Mikael Lustig have all missed games through injury this season with Nir Bitton having to regularly fill in at centre-back.
Rodgers did almost sign a defender in the summer transfer window – South African Rivaldo Coetzee – but the deal collapsed after Coetzee failed a medical in Glasgow.
Rodgers admits it’s an area his side need some stability and that he will probably be looking to add depth to that area of his squad when the transfer window re-opens in January.
“It’s definitely an area I need to look at now, centre-half is a position where you need stability,” Rodgers said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun website.
“It’s been unfortunate for us we haven’t had that.
“It hasn’t just been one player who’s been affected, it’s been two and sometimes three at a time who have been out.
“It’s unfortunate, but we have to make do, and we’ll see what January brings.
“In the meantime we move on with the players we have, and we’ll always look to find a way.”
Simunovic will miss the next few weeks for Celtic after the hamstring injury he suffered on international duty flared up before the trip to Germany to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Rodgers had to name Bitton at centre-back in the Scottish League Cup semi-final clash with Hibernian on Saturday.
The Hoops have not lost in their last 59 domestic games and will be expecting to extend that record when they take to the pitch at the national stadium to face Neil Lennon’s side.
The winners will face Rangers or Motherwell at Hampden on November 26th.
In other Celtic news, this full-back is in a race for fitness on Saturday.
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