Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has admitted the club is still looking for a replacement for Arne Engels.
The Belgian midfielder left for West Ham United in a £22 million move, leaving a gap in the squad.
Having featured in both legs against Kairat, Engels had already expressed his desire to leave before the LASK game. O’Neill said: "He had his mind made up, that’s what he wanted to do.
"I think when Alistair [Johnston] got injured, I think he thought it could happen to him."
The timing of Engels’ departure has raised eyebrows among supporters, especially with Celtic facing important European matches. O’Neill said: "I will understand any arguments put forward about that.
"In fairness to us, we’ve actually actively been looking at replacements for him; they just haven’t materialised at this minute."
The manager further explained the dilemma of having a player whose mind was elsewhere on the field. He said: "So we stop him from going, we play, and he plays the game, and let’s say his mind is elsewhere, that becomes a problem."
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Celtic have yet to find a direct replacement for Engels, but the search continues.
O’Neill acknowledged the importance of adding quality to the team and the need for a replacement, especially for the Champions League. He said: "We’ve let X number of players go and we haven’t replaced, numerically speaking.
"We have a bit of quality in, but we’ve got a little bit of time. But yes, for the Champions League, I’ll take your point."
Mika Baur, who made his Celtic debut against Dundee United, could see more game time against LASK.
However, O’Neill has made clear that Baur is not a direct replacement for Engels. The Celtic manager said: "He’s a different type of player. He doesn’t have the same make-up as Arne.
"It’s something I think we need. He’s a nice little footballer; he’s very competitive, there’s not a great deal to him, but we’d be wanting, regardless of what happens in these two games, an Arne-type replacement in our team.
"Someone who is box-to-box."
