Brendan Rodgers last night admitted both Carl Starfelt and new signing Maik Nawrocki missed the friendly against Wolves through injury.
The Celtic boss was down to bare bones in defence for the match in Dublin with Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales in central defence. And Tomoki Iwata filled in at right back.
Now, Rodgers has confirmed Starfelt and Nawrocki are both managing ankle injuries so missed the match.
However, it's hoped the pair will be back fit to play Bilbao on Tuesday night. But Yuki Kobayashi is a couple of weeks away from a return.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Rodgers said: “Carl twisted his ankle, so he couldn’t travel. Hopefully he’ll be okay for Tuesday.
“Kobayashi will be out for a few weeks. He obviously got injured in one of the games in Japan.
“Maik tweaked his ankle before he trained with us. But hopefully he’ll be okay for Tuesday."
And returns for Anthony Ralston and Cameron Carter-Vickers are also in the pipeline with the defensive duo back in training.
Rodgers added: “Hopefully Tony and Cam won’t be too far away.
“They’ve come back training with the squad. It was too soon for them to play.
“They’ll be back with us in the morning for training and then we’ll see where they’re at for Tuesday.”
Rodgers went on to reveal he has held talks with Barry Robson over a possible return to Aberdeen for Scales.
The defender spent last season on loan at Pittodrie and could yet return to the club this summer - but Rodgers is in no rush over a decision.
He concluded: “I would think Aberdeen are keen to have him back.
“I’ve obviously had a couple of conversations with Barry.
“But we’re in no rush, I’ll just assess it and see where it is. We’ll take it from there.”
