Carter-Vickers could be out until March – what does it mean for Celtic?

Manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers may not play until March due to an Achilles injury.

The United States center-back appeared to be injured late in the United States’ 2-1 Europa League victory over Sturm Graz in Glasgow despite playing the entire 90 minutes.

According to Rodgers, “He appears to have completed his Achilles, which could take between three and five months.”

We just need to have that confirmation. Not good news, really.

Since joining Celtic in 2021 for an undisclosed fee from Tottenham Hotspur following a successful loan spell, the 27-year-old has made 172 appearances.

In the victory on Thursday, Liam Scales, the team’s central defensive partner, equalized, while Dane Murray and Auston Trusty served as the bench’s starting backs.

This season, Carter-Vickers has played in 13 of Celtic’s 15 games, so Rodgers’ side will suffer greatly from his absence. It also provides opportunities for others.

The manager has a lot of options for center-backs at Celtic, including trusty, murray, hayato inamura, jahmai Simpson-Pusey, but they don’t seem to have many options for central defenders, which Rodgers is interested in.

The inexperienced Murray has only made three appearances while Trusty has been having trouble with injury this season and has only played 62 minutes this year.

Inamura, who joined Japanese side Albirex Niigata this summer, has only made one appearance since that defeat to Livingston in August.

And since Rodgers claimed the defender wasn’t quite at the level required to start for Celtic, he has only played one for the B team.

Simpson-Pusey, who signed on loan from Manchester City at the end of the summer, has also only ever played for the B team once.

Due to the fact that neither of the latter two was included in the Parkhead club’s European squad list, any calls made by Rodgers must be for domestic games.

Rodgers must now make a decision. Does he add any of the four left behind him and keep Scales as his main center-back? Or does he alter his situation and try out different defense combinations with the four other defenders available to him?

Jim, anyone, but please don’t recall Stephen Welsh’s loan. He seems to be enjoying his football and has settled well as a Motherwell fan.

Dane Murray, Martin. has no intention of putting a finger in my direction and will simply join.

Steven: They’re a liability. It’s time to give the kids a chance. Knowing that there is a chance of joining the first team, that would give the reserves a boost.

Dane Murray, it’s time to give a chance!

Craig: If I had the option, I would place Dane Murray in his place on Sunday. The boys deserve a chance, and the rest of the team is the same as it was on Thursday night. However, Losing Carter-Vickers is a massive blow, and we’ll see how they perform on Sunday.