Toure to miss Hoops’ friendly with Barca

Kolo Toure will sit out Celtic’s glamour friendly with Barcelona – but could be thrown into action in next week’s crucial Champions League clash with Astana.

The former Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool centre-back has yet to feature for his new side since signing last week.

And with the 35-year-old Ivorian international still lacking match sharpness, Parkhead boss Brendan Rodgers has decided not to risk him against Barca stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez when they take on the Spanish giants in Dublin today.

However, Celtic coach John Kennedy says Rodgers has not ruled out handing Toure his Hoops debut when they welcome their Kazakh opponents to Glasgow for Wednesday’s crucial second leg.

The Scottish champions – who claimed a valuable 1-1 draw in last week’s opening third qualifying round tie – are worryingly short on defenders with Erik Sviatchenko, Jose Simunovic, Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer all currently unavailable through injury.

Swede Mikael Lustig has also been left out of the travelling squad heading to Ireland, while Kieran Tierney did take his seat on the flight but may sit out the Aviva Stadium friendly after suffering cramp in last week’s match.

Kennedy, speaking as the Hoops departed Glasgow Airport, said: “It’s pretty much the same squad we had in Astana.

“Kolo is still working fitness-wise so he also stays back to do some extra work. It’s still a bit early for him to play in tomorrow’s game. We will look at that again and assess that on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy has confirmed that Rodgers is interested in luring Scott Sinclair to Scotland.

Reports claims the Northern Irishman has so far failed with three bids for the Aston Villa winger.

The Birmingham outfit are demanding £5 million for the player, who has previously worked with Rodgers at Swansea, but Celtic’s latest offer came in at just £2.75m.

However, Kennedy admits the 27-year-old would fit the bill if a price could be agreed.

“We want to bring quality in and that is certainly the calibre of player we’re looking at,” he said.