BRENDAN Rodgers is facing the prospect of a major defensive headache after Celtic went down to defeat at Kilmarnock yesterday.
The Scottish champions struggled on the Rugby Park surface as the hosts battled to a deserved victory thanks to a goal from Youssouf Mulumbu with 20 minutes remaining.
In a keenly contested tussle in Ayrshire, Celtic lost Dedryck Boyata with a groin injury early on before his defensive partner, Kris Ajer, also limped out of the action in the first half.
With a Europa League showdown against Zenit St Petersburg looming on the horizon, Rodgers does not have his injury concerns to seek with eight key players currently sidelined. The set-backs suffered by both Boyata and Ajer capped a disappointing day all round.
The Celtic manager said: “I thought we were disappointing. There have been very few games where I would have said that in my time here but I thought in all aspects of it we weren’t so good today.
"Firstly defensively. We didn’t have a great deal to do but I didn’t think we were aggressive enough. I accept the surface is dreadful but we weren’t good enough in terms of our creativity, considering the talent we had on the pitch.
“We will just need to see on that (the injuries). Of course when you lose two out of your back three it makes it hard but I wouldn’t use that as any excuse.”
Mulumbu’s winner ensured that Steve Clarke continued his unbeaten record against Celtic this season. The Kilmarnock manager also revealed that match winner Mulumbu could have departed in the transfer window only for a move to La Liga side Bordeaux to fall through.
Clarke said: “He could have gone but someone was looking after us. You never know what to expect from the transfer window. I was hopeful he would be here but once a club came sniffing there was always the possibility we could lose him. But thankfully it fell through and we get the benefit."
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