BRENDAN RODGERS addressed three crucial talking points as he prepared his Celtic players for their Premiership encounter against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.
CAMERON CARTER-VICKERS and AUSTON TRUSTY
The central defensive partnership have gelled in their three games together – the wins over Dundee (2-0), Aberdeen (6-0) and RB Leipzig (30-1) – but the USA international double-act raised concerns when they were posted missing from training at Lennoxtown today.
Rodgers, though, played down their non-appearance and revealed they will take part in a light session tomorrow as he is hopeful of naming an unchanged pool for the trip to Ayrshire.
IT TAKES TWO…Cameron Carter-Vickers demonstrates his power in the air in the 3-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park and Auston Trusty (below) acknowledges the Celtic fans after another success.
The Hoops boss said: “Yeah, we will just assess that. I think they will be fine, but we just need to give them that extra wee bit of recovery time.
“Do a light session tomorrow and, hopefully, all being well the same squad.”
ALISTAIR JOHNSTON
The Canadian international right-back has been on top form since the kick-off to the campaign and is poised to sign an extension on his contract, as CQN reported.
Johnston hit the ground running in January 2022 as he took over from the popular Josip Juranovic who was sold to Union Berlin within a month of the Vancouver-born defender signing a five-year deal following his £3.25million switch from MLS outfit CF Montreal.
THAT’S OUR BHOY…Alistair Johnston is congratulated by Luke McCowan, Daizen Maeda and Paulo Bernardo after his goal at Fir Park.
Rodgers, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “We are obviously very keen to do it. Naturally, he is playing at a really high level and is such a great member of our team on and off the pitch.
“Hopefully, and I am pretty sure, the club and his representatives can organise something very soon.”
ALEX VALLE
There have been suggestions from Spanish media outlets that the on-loan Barcelona left-back may be recalled by the Catalan giants in January.
That would mean Celtic receiving a compensation fee with the parent club breaking the season-long temporary transfer agreement.
THE ITALIAN JOB…Alex Valle gives a round of applause to the travelling fans after Celtic’s goalless draw against Atalanta in Bergamo.
Asked about the possibility of losing the 20-year-old defender who has looked a capable back-up to Greg Taylor, Rodgers replied: “Not that I am aware of, no and nobody has told me any different.
“I suppose we are getting to the stage that rumours and gossip and everything kicks in leading into January. But I know Alex has really, really enjoyed his time here, both on and off the pitch.
“He’s obviously a very important player for us, so we wouldn’t want to lose him.
“And I think he is enjoying the experiences he is getting both in the Champions League and domestic football.”
