HOOPS’ AJER INJURY BLOW
HOLT’S HEROES PUT UP SHUTTERS
FROM BACK PAGE of heads with Lions’ Craig Halkett has taken the shine off their return to the summit.
Celtic manager Rodgers confirmed the defender will need surgery to repair the damage to his face.
Rodgers said: “He’s struggling – he’s broken his eye socket and he’s in a lot of pain at the moment.
“He will need surgery which is a shame for him. He’s in real agony around the area of his cheekbone.
“The medics will look after him and hopefully he can get that repaired as soon as possible.
“He hasn’t had much luck. In fairness to the boy, he’s a fantastic young player who’s a model professional.
“He does absolutely everything he can to be ready. It was just a really unfortunate incident.
“There was nothing in it. It was just during that wee bit we had in their box. He’s just headered down into their guy’s head.
“There was no fault on the part of the other player. It was just unfortunate.”
Celtic had rattled in 23 goals in their previous five domestic games but drew a blank against a dogged Livi side.
Rodgers though wasn’t too despondent about the afternoon’s efforts taking into account the team’s performances over the past month.
He added: “I thought it was a good game and credit to both teams.
“Livingston test you with how they play with throw-ins, deep free-kicks and I thought we stood up to that really well.
“Then the game opens up a little bit and we had chances and their goalkeeper was man of the match.
“He made three fantastic saves and I have no complaints. My team have given everything over the last seven weeks and we have to give credit to Livingston. They are a tough team to break down and they have been up at the top.
“The season started slowly for us. But I’ve been so pleased with the last seven weeks or so – the performance level.
“We were never going to reach the level today in terms of goals and creativity as the surface is really difficult for that.
“It’s a good point here on the back of all the games we’ve had.
“So we’ll take the positives from it of which there were a lot. We’re now back where we aim to be.
“In this period too we’ve found some new players – the likes of Ryan Christie coming into the team and doing fantastic.
“Our form and our rhythm has been positive. We hope they all come back from international duty fresh and fit.
“We’ll look forward to a busy but exciting period between now and the mid-season break so it’s looking really good for us.”
Craig Gordon missed the game with a hip injury and is out of Scotland’s ties with Albania and Israel.
While it’s disappointing for Celtic’s No.1, James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, Scott Bain and Ryan Christie are looking forward to joining up with the national side.
Rodgers said: “The beauty of those who are available is they all want to go.
“I’ve seen the guys passion for playing for their country since I arrived here. They are all players who want to play for Scotland.”