Nat Phillips is an injury concern for Celtic tonight in their UEFA Champions League group stages opener against Feyenoord. Brendan Rodgers gave a media conference yesterday afternoon and confirmed the news that Phillips will be touch-and-go for the clash in Rotterdam.

Celtic Training Session – Lennoxtown Training Ground – Friday 1st September Celtic’s Nat Phillips centre with team mates during a training session at the Lennoxtown Training Ground, Lennoxtown. Photo Andrew Milligan

The Liverpool loanee rolled his ankle when he played the first forty-five minutes at the weekend against Dundee, and although at first it was reported that Rodgers was just taking a precaution in removing him, it now turns out that he may have did something worse than it first appeared. It leaves us terribly short once again if he doesn’t make it and actually borders the impossible in respect of our defensive crisis.

16th September 2023 Celtic Park, Celtic versus Dundee Amadou Bakayoko of Dundee takes on Nat Phillips of Celtic. ActionPlus David Young

Nat got his first taste of action for Celtic this past Saturday, but it was obvious he was slightly rusty considering he’s not played for Liverpool in months. That rustiness will only go away with games and if he’s injured already, it would be a bitter blow as we really could use a player of his experience in the De Kuip stadium tomorrow night.

When asked about the state of play with Nat and other injury concerns, the 50-year-old said: “Nat has rolled his ankle so we will just have to see on that. Other than that pretty much the guys are fine, they are working their way up to fitness. Apart from that they are OK.”