Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate injury update: What has Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said?

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is sweating over the fitness of key duo Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate after both players were forced off injured during the 3-1 Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen.

The Hoops boss had to make a couple of enforced changes at Pittodrie, with American centre-back Carter-Vickers - not long back from knee surgery - replaced at half-time as a “precaution” after tweaking his hamstring.

Japanese utility star Hatate, who was brought on to replace David Turnbull at the interval, lasted just 23 minutes before limping off with a calf knock. With a number of important matches to come, Rodgers explained the decision behind taking both players off.

What has Brendan Rodgers said?

With Champions League group stage football on the horizon in mid-September, Rodgers will now be focused on building some momentum in domestic competitions. The Northern Irishman admitted players are still “getting used to how we want to work” and declared he is “pretty close” to finalising a deal for Carl Starfelt’s replacement Gustaf Lagerbielke next.

But will Carter-Vickers and Hatate be part of his plans for next Sunday’s League Cup tie against Kilmarnock due to injury? Should they face any period on the sidelines, the duo would be a big loss to the Parkhead side.

“Hopefully he’s okay” Rodgers explained, when asked for an update on Carter-Vickers condition on Sky Sports. “He felt his hamstring a little bit so we just have to assess that. We didn’t want to put any more risk on it.

“Reo coming on (at half-time) was just a tactical decision. I felt like there was a lot of direct balls in the first-half and we weren’t winning the second balls in midfield. Reo’s quite tenacious, so we brought him into the game but then he felt maybe a little issue with his calf. So we’ll see how he is in the next couple of days.”

Speaking later in his post-match press conference, Rodgers provided further detail on the duo’s current status: “Hopefully (Carter-Vickers injury) won’t be too bad. They look like fresh (injuries), so it’s better for precautions’ sake to get them off and we’ll assess it from there.”

The comments might suggest that both players could be slight doubts for the Hoops’ trip to Rugby Park next weekend weekend. If Carter-Vicker is rested, Rodgers may opt to start Stephen Welsh at centre-back after informing the youngster he still has a future at the club.