Carter-Vickers and Hatate out of League Cup clash as Lagerbielke in squad

Celtic duo Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate have been ruled out for this weekend’s League Cup clash at Rugby Park.

Both players were taken off injured during last week’s Premiership victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie and will now miss the game against Kilmarnock.

New signing Gustaf Lagerbielke could be line to make his Celtic debut as he is included in the matchday squad after completing his move from Allsvenskan side Elfsborg.

Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers was speaking to the media on Thursday as he prepared his team to begin the defence of one of the three trophies they won last season.

He said: “Neither of them (Carter-Vickers or Hatate) will be available for this weekend, so we will just have to assess them and see how they are over the coming weeks.”

Rodgers also confirmed that Stephen Welsh, who recently put pen to paper on a new long-term contract, suffered a knock in training on Friday but had no details yet on how serious that could be for the defender.

Celtic have been linked with several players, including an ambitious move for Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Daniel Podence, as they look to bolster their squad for the upcoming Champions League campaign.

But the manager refused to elaborate on any transfer speculation as the window reaches it’s last fortnight before slamming shut until the winter.

On Kilmarnock he admitted it would be a tough game, he said: “I watched their game against Rangers and they done really well, Derek’s teams are always well organised, some of the most competitive in the country and he’s a very excellent and experienced manager so I expect it to be a tough game for sure, and that’s what I’ll be preparing for.”