Compper is out of action for a month

MARVIN COMPPER’S hopes of making his Celtic debut have been shelved for a month after the German picked up a calf injury. Signed from RB Leipzig for £1million, the 32-year-old international defender was earmarked to add experience to Rodgers’ backline in the second half of the season. But he will now have to wait to prove his worth to his new club after Rodgers confirmed a knock picked up towards the end of the squad’s winter break in Dubai will force

Compper out of action until the middle of next month. ‘He has a calf injury,’ said the Celtic manager. ‘He will probably be out for four weeks. It is unfortunate. He was in Dubai and towards the end of a game we had, that was it.’ Compper is ineligible for next month’s Europa League clash with Zenit St Petersburg, but Rodgers will also now have to do without the services of Tom Rogic. Confirming the Australian’s predicted recovery from a knee injury will run beyond the tie with the Russians, Rodgers added: ‘It could be six to eight weeks.’ Patrick Roberts does have a chance of featuring, though, with Stuart Armstrong also expected to recover quickly from a hernia operation. ‘He (Armstrong) should be back training in ten days,’ Rodgers revealed. ‘We’ve gone for the best treatment possible, so he’s gone straight to Munich for his operation. We’ve got a leading specialist in hernias. He’s on his way back. ‘He was playing with the problem and it just got worse and worse, so best to operate now.’ With Erik Sviatchenko having moved on loan to former club FC Midtjylland, Rodgers will start the second half of the season with a central defensive pool of Jozo Simunovic, Dedryck Boyata, Kristoffer Ajer and Nir Bitton. The Celtic manager was again linked with a move for Dundee centre-half Jack Hendry yesterday, as first revealed by Sportsmail, but there is no interest in Besiktas’ Dusko Tosik. So far this transfer window, Rodgers has only signed Compper and St Mirren’s Lewis Morgan, with the latter moving back on loan to Paisley until the summer. However, the Northern Irishman is confident the month will see further arrivals. ‘Yes, I expect so,’ said Rodgers. ‘I think that it is something we’ll look to do. But we stay calm. We have a month to do it. ‘It’s all about trying to get the quality and not necessarily about numbers. It’s about trying to get in players who can make a difference for us. ‘But we’re calm. The recruitment department are working very hard behind the scenes in terms of identifying the right types who can make a difference for us, not just for this now but going forward.’