NEIL LENNON faces some very big decisions before Wednesday's opening Champions League qualifier against Cliftonville.

The depleted Hoops squad will board their flight to Belfast tomorrow, and the Parkhead boss still is not sure who will be available to travel.

The players carrying injuries – Adam Matthews, Joe Ledley, Charlie Mulgrew, Gary Hooper, Virgil van Dijk and Tony Watt – will all be assessed at Lennoxtown today.

Skipper Scott Brown will also be checked for any reaction to his first action of the season, an hour in the 3-0 defeat to Union Berlin which closed their tour of Germany on Friday night.

With Hooper’s future the subject of speculation – QPR are expected to come in with a £5million offer while Norwich are said to have put a deadline of today on their £4m bid  – the striker must be rated doubtful to face the champions of Northern Ireland.

The artificial surface at Solitude will play a big part in Lennon's decisions regarding the players he will send out for this first-leg tie as he will be anxious not to risk exacerbating any existing injuries.

The main personnel problems lie in defence. With Van Dijk and Mulgrew struggling to overcome a leg knock and hamstring respectively, plus Efe Ambrose still not back in training after his delayed summer break due to international duty, Kelvin Wilson looks like being partnered in central defence by either Mikael Lustig or 20-year-old Jackson Irvine, who played in Berlin on Friday.

If Lustig has to move inside, another youngster to show up well in the pre-season games, Darnell Fisher, could be asked to make his European bow.

There is still time to register Steven Mouyokolo, if he is signed before tomorrow, as clubs are permitted to add one more player after the date for submitting their squad, provided the paperwork is completed 24 hours before the first leg of the tie.

Having successfully passed the stringent medical, agreeing personal terms has delayed the French defender's 12-month deal being agreed.

Mouyokolo is also receiving treatment for an injury picked up midway through the series of games in Germany.

So, he is another player whose condition Lennon must check before he decides on his line-up for Wednesday's tie.

The Hoops boss always knew the timing of these two second qualifying round games would create problems for the SPL champions.

But, he also knows there will be no sympathy for their plight, and said: "It's so early, it's a harsh reality of where we are.

"We won the cup final at the end of May and we are back in on the 24th of June.

"It's been staggered and a bit disjointed because we have had a lot of injuries as well.

"They are the ups and downs you have to cope with during pre-season.

"But I don't think you'll see us anywhere near our best for another two weeks or so."