Celtic boss offers worrying Cameron Carter-Vickers injury news

Celtic were handed a bit of a scare by Falkirk. The lower league team scored as many goals against Brendan Rodgers' side in the first half as they had conceded in their first seven games this season. Ultimately, the Hoops were able to turn things around after the break, as braces from Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah sealed the win and qualification to the next round of the Scottish League Cup.

The defence looked particularly shaky in the first 45 minutes. Perhaps somewhat expectedly as Celtic were missing all four of their regular starters at the back. Greg Taylor did eventually come on as a substitute.

It does take defences some time to gel. And this was a completely new defensive lineup that Rodgers had fielded on the day.

Unfortunately, that was not just because Rodgers wanted to rest his starters. As it turns out, Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers were left out due to fitness issues. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Celtic manager said to BBC Radio Scotland:

"Cam is injured so he wouldn’t have played anyway. We’ve been nursing him on a foot problem that he’s had for a little while, and the same with Ali.

“Ali, he had an injection to calm down some inflammation he’s had, so he wouldn’t have been available today either. So those two enforced.

“Just for today. Ali will start training with the team and then be ready. And Cam we will just have to wait and see.

“He’s had an issue with his foot, and he’s been getting some injections for that. And we felt that the game during the week there, he is just so brave and so courageous, he wants to play and put himself out there, but we have to make sure we look after him as well because it’s a long season."

Celtic boss offers worrying Cameron Carter-Vickers injury news

Of course, Johnston is a very important part of the team. And fortunately, it looks like he will start training with the team soon and it is not a serious issue.

On the other hand, Carter-Vickers has had his fair share of injury problems in recent times. He spent several spells out on the sidelines last season and was injured in the second half of the 22/23 campaign too.

Carter-Vickers is Celtic's most important defender without a doubt. So, the Hoops would not want to see him miss any significant length of time and it is not ideal if he continues to play through any niggling issues either.

The defensive performance in his absence would not have filled anybody with confidence either. We can only hope that Carter-Vickers and Johnston recover as soon as possible.