Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the Parkhead side will be missing five first-team players for the upcoming trip to Ibrox to face Rangers.
News broke this week that Celtic would be without £14m centre-back pair Cameron Carter Vickers and Maik Nawrocki for the trip to Ibrox due to hamstring injuries.
And Brendan Rodgers confirmed that the pair would miss the clash through injury as Celtic enter something of a defensive injury crisis ahead of the clash with Rangers at Ibrox.
The Celtic boss also confirmed that the two players are set to be ruled out until October and will be joined by another Parkhead centre-back in an eight week stint on the sidelines.
The money-spinning pair join Celtic defender Stephen Walsh on the sidelines whilst Japanese centre-back Yuki Kobayashi has been ruled out until the international break.
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Japanese midfielder Reo Hatate has also been ruled out of Celtic’s trip to Ibrox with Rangers fans watching the situation very closely indeed.
Five Celtic players out of clash with Rangers at Ibrox
“It’s obviously disappointing in terms of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki,” Brendan Rodgers said.
“Stephen Welsh probably about eight weeks. He had an operation just the other day, he has come through that well.
“The other two we were hopeful that they would be back sooner but further scans on them puts them at probably about eight weeks.
“Reo Hatate will be back at the international break, round about that. Mikey Johnston will be next week.
“Yuki Kobayashi will be at the international break and Oh will return to training next week.
“Alistair Johnston is back and has trained well and will be available for the weekend.”
Rangers on the other hand are almost, for the first time for a long time, on the verge of having a fully fit squad to pick from.
Michael Beale confirmed that Turkish international Ridvan Yilmaz, the only Ibrox star not available for selection, will return to full training very soon.
The news surrounding Celtic’s injury situation also comes after the Parkhead side turned down their Ibrox ticket allocation ahead of the first Old Firm clash of the season.