CELTIC striker Moussa Dembele is in a race to be fit for Tuesday night’s Uefa Champions League meeting against PSG.
The Parkhead side host the French giants in their opening game of Group B next week and Dembele, who has not played since the end of July, is pushing to be fit for the tie.
Celtic will not gamble on the fitness of the player who has been out for the past few months after a recurrence to a hamstring strain.
His fellow striker, Leigh Griffiths, will be rested for tonight’s game against Hamilton Accies after taking a kick to his calf during Scotland’s win on Monday evening, and it could be that Rodgers has a decision to make between Griffiths and Dembele for the curtain-raiser against the French giants.
“He [Dembele] went to Clairfontaine in France for three weeks and done some great work out there with the medical team there, like he did here before he left,” said Rodgers.
“He is now back and we will assess him to see where he is at.
“The most important thing is we can’t risk it.
“Of course everyone would love to be involved in the Paris game but if not then he is not going to be too far away from that and then he is still going to have an impact for the remainder of the Champions League campaign which is great news.
“But we have to be sure that he is right if he has any involvement in the game on Tuesday.”
However, while Celtic’s striking issues are almost resolved there remains a defensive headache for the game against PSG.
Both Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko remain injured, although both players are expected to resume training with the first-team this Sunday.
The former is set for a return earlier than Sviatchenko but for the visit of PSG it will be Jozo Simunovic, the only fit and natural central defender at the club, who partners either Mikael Lustig, Nir Bitton or Kristoffer Ajer.
Simunovic will play this evening against Hamilton in order to get him game time after he didn’t feature for Bosnia on international duty, and despite the lack of depth at the back ahead of a game against the world’s most expensive forward line, Rodgers has insisted that he will not approach the game against PSG with apprehension.
“Jozo is fit, Mikael Lustig can move inside and Tony Ralston is there with young Ajer,” he said. “That is what we are having to plan and map out. I wouldn’t say we are depleted but we are having to adjust.”
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