The Celtic defense dilemma is exacerbated by Alistair Johnston’s diagnosis, while Brendan Rodgers unveils Liel Abada’s strategy.

Brendan Rodgers has been hit with any other damage headache with fears Alistair Johnston could be out for weeks with a suspected cracked skull.
The Celtic defender was once raced to clinic in Edinburgh on Wednesday after suffering a nasty head injury in the dramatic 2-1 win in opposition to Hibs. Johnston is out of tomorrow’s Scottish Cup clash at St Mirren – alongside with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Greg Taylor and Reo Hatate – however the Hoops are sweating on the consequences of a scan to discover if the Canada famous person is facing a prolonged absence.

Rodgers said: “He won’t be reachable for the weekend. We think he has a mild fracture on the aspect of the head. Hopefully we’ll get the result from the scan. It simply looks to be a season of continual troubles particularly round a lot of our starting players. We’ll see. Hopefully, fingers crossed it’ll be good enough and he won’t be out for too long.”

Rodgers admitted dropping Johnston was once a blow – but he has complete faith in Tony Ralston while handing Alexandro Bernabei an possibility in Taylor’s absence. He said: “That’s the beauty of it. Tony, for me, in his personal right ought to begin each game. So it’s essential you have that stage of player.

“I see how he prepares himself and you see his tackle the different night at the stop of the game which creates the probability for the penalty (for the late winner). I understand I’ve received any one there I can trust.

“It’s been hard for Berna due to the fact he’s been out for such a long time. His skillset is totally unique to Greg.

Rodgers is battling numerous troubles to keep Celtic’s trophy bid on track – including helping Liel Abada find top form again. The broad man has struggled considering that his return from harm and seemed detached from the celebrations at Easter Road in midweek.

Abada used to be tipped for a mortgage exit in January amid uncomfortable non-public instances with his place of origin at conflict and a part of Celtic supporters making pro-Palestine protests. Rodgers admitted it’s a delicate situation and said: “I think what we do is just continue to communicate with him.

“My job is to maximise the viable that he has and for that, it’s simply about making positive he is in the exceptional vicinity possible. There’s no doubt it’s been a task for him with everything that has long gone on off the pitch. He’s well supported, he’s nicely loved here, however there’s no doubt it’s been a project for him.

“To play football at your best, you have to be in that truly tremendous mind-set and in a excellent headspace, however we will continuously work with him in order to maximise what we can get out of him. I communicate a lot to him and he has exceptional assist around here, so yeah, it’s no longer easy, however we just hold working with him to get the first-rate overall performance out of him.”

Rodgers desires to park his troubles and force closer to cup glory. The Hoops boss by no means misplaced a Scottish Cup tie for the duration of his first spell and he’s fired up for a National Stadium return after suffering League Cup frustration. The Parkhead boss – who has Oh and Yang again from Asian Cup obligation – said: “I’ve ignored Hampden. It’s an exquisite competition to be worried in and I used to be very fortunate to have the feelings and recollections we created the first time.

“So lacking out on the League Cup, we’re even more decided for this competition. It’s something special. It’s brilliant. Obviously the first recreation was once an iconic recreation for us (in the Final towards Aberdeen in 2017) and the feeling how it summarised the whole season.

“Memories created like that are with you forever. To then be capable to do it towards Motherwell a year later so convincingly capped off every other amazing season. I love the competition and I hope we can get there again.”

Meanwhile Rodgers laughed off wacky IFAB plans to trial blue cards and sin bins for dissent and professional fouls. He said: “As quickly as I noticed it I thought, I work in Scotland, I’m sure they better have a green card as nicely as a blue one or we would possibly be in trouble!

“Just don’t complicate it. Make a selection whether it is a red card, a yellow or no card. We don’t need a blue card up here, that’s for sure.”