It was desperately disappointing to hear about the injury sustained by Dedryck Boyata against Slavia Prague, and even more so to hear that he may be out for up to six weeks.
Of course, it is far from ideal for Celtic, but it is much more disheartening for a player who fought his way back from injury and then the fringes of the Celtic squad last season to make such an impact.
Getting a full pre-season under your belt can be so vital for a player, so I hope it doesn’t have a knock-on effect to his season later on down the line.
He showed great heart, desire and character as well as huge levels of dedication to fight his way back into Brendan Rodgers’ plans, and I fully expect he will do the same again.
As for the Celtic defence, fortunately they have the depth to cope with his absence. Erik Sviatchenko can step in there beside Jozo Simunovic no problem at all, and if it comes to it, even Kieran Tierney could play at centre-half with Emilio Izaguirre coming in at left-back.
Of course, the young man was seen as part of a back three last season at times, and he handled it well, and it was interesting to hear Brendan Rodgers talking about Tierney as a possible long-term solution for Scotland in that area.
He played really well on the left of a three against England, but given how well he has adapted to everything else that has been thrown at him in his short career so far, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him flourish at centre-half as part of a duo either.
So, while Celtic would have loved to have had Boyata fit and available for their Champions League qualifiers, they have more than enough in the ranks to cope with his absence.
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