Celtic injury blow could be a big problem ahead of Benfica clash

Celtic could be without centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers on Thursday night in what will be a big blow. The American international has been a steady performer for Celtic this season and Martin O'Neill's best centre-back.

Carter-Vickers came in for criticism after his comments on the back of Celtic's defeat to Rangers before the break. O'Neill added to that criticism before Sunday's win over Motherwell, which we have covered here.

But it's clear that Carter-Vickers has outperformed Auston Trusty, his defensive partner, and he offers more than Liam Scales, although it must be said that the Irishman was solid on Sunday.

Still, O'Neill will have wanted Carter-Vickers back for Thursday night's clash with Benfica in the Europa League, which is going to be an extremely difficult test. Benfica, who went all of last season's league campaign without defeat and beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, are likely going to be the biggest test of Celtic's season.

Naturally, having Carter-Vickers for that game would have been very useful, but it looks as though the American international could miss out, as he did on Sunday.

“He might not be fit for Thursday," O'Neill said on Sunday. "I think he’s got a strain and he’s missing this one,” the Celtic manager said. “The physios and the medical team have told me that Thursday might be too early. But the European game will just end up taking care of itself. It’ll be a tough game."

It's likely Scales will deputise for Carter-Vickers, perhaps alongside Trusty, who is likely to come back in for Dane Murray. It would be a surprise if Murray started such a tough game. He was fine on Sunday, but the level of opponent on Thursday night will be very different, likewise, the atmosphere will be rather intense in Lisbon.

But injury issues happen, and centre-back was one of the few positions Celtic felt confident about in terms of depth and quality. That will be put to the test on Thursday night.