Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Moussa Dembele won’t feature against Rosenborg and will be out of action for another couple of weeks, potentially ruling him out of the first leg against AEK Athens too, should Celtic progress.
The news is a definite blow to first-team plans ahead of the visit of the Norwegian champions, although Odsonne Edouard has been declared fit despite an injury scare of his own, according to The Daily Mail.
Dembele is the latest in a long line of injuries already this summer for Celtic with the likes of Marvin Compper, Jonny Hayes, Lewis Morgan and Leigh Griffiths all missing action in the early part of the season.
With players such as Tom Rogic, Mikael Lustig, Cristian Gamboa and Dedryck Boyata also missing plenty of pre-season preparation due to the World Cup, it’s hardly been plain sailing in the midst of European qualifiers.
Rodgers delivered the Dembele injury update yesterday, as quoted by The Daily Mail, the Celtic boss said:
Moussa is probably a good couple of weeks away. It’s a light strain from the game, which is unfortunate because he’s been very good. Thankfully, it wasn’t any worse as hamstrings can be a while.
He’s come back so fit and strong. But there’s a pressure playing up here and players are coming back quickly in to this level of games.
Given the first leg of the potential AEK Athens clash comes on August 7th, that injury could rule him out of that one too, which is especially disappointing since the Greeks are likely to present a stiff challenge.
The squad’s focus will be on overcoming Rosenborg though, with excitement building ahead of tonight’s encounter at Celtic Park.
Can Celtic build a strong lead to take to Norway for the second leg?
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