Ange Postecoglou has refused to rule out Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers ahead of the Champions League double-header against RB Leipzig. The defender missed the games against St Mirren and Motherwell through injury but the manager stated that he was not far away from making his return.
Speaking after the 2-1 win yesterday, Postecoglou confirmed that the USA Internationalist was receiving treatment for an injury but that he would be giving him every chance to be involved over in Germany on Wednesday.
“Cameron got some treatment again and will get some on Sunday. We will see how he is Monday and Tuesday and make a decision.
“He is not far away but we have another 12 games in 40-odd days.
“So I am not going to put him in unless he is absolutely right because it would be silly of us to put him in and then lose him for another few games.
“Particularly with Carl Starfelt out for at least another couple of weeks. Cam’s pretty good. If he is ready to play he’ll put his hand up, I don’t need to question that.
“But we have got to make sure we make the right decision. We will give him every chance.”
The fact that the manager isn’t ruling him out is a positive, especially as he sys that he is nearing a return to fitness. Celtic have missed the pairing of Carl Starfelt and CCV, who were integral in last season’s success.
Celtic are at McDiarmid Park on Saturday before hosting the Germans at Celtic Park in the Champions League on Matchday Four. The games against the Bundesliga outfit will be pivotal in deciding whether Celtic are involved in European football beyond Christmas, with Ange’s side sitting one point ahead of Marco Rose’s side.
Ange will want his best defenders available for the games this month as they will determine Celtic’s progress in a number of competitions. Risking burn out or further injuries for Carter-Vicker will certainly be on Postecoglou’s mind as he looks to navigate Europe, the league and the League Cup.
Its one of those one’s eh; he makes the game he might not be up to speed enough to cope, but if he misses it then people will use that as an excuse if the defence struggle.
The teams too open at the back regardless of who plays, has been for a while; one mistake costs us, like Hatate v’s Motherwell.
CCV diving in cost us a goal already v Real Madrid, then McGregor did something similar v Shakhtar Donetsk.
For this system to work, all the players need to perform at the top of their game for the entirety of it, cut out the slack passes and lapses of judgement and concentration and they need to stop bombing up the park in numbers the minute we gain possession leaving the defence struggling to pick a pass trying to play out from the back