STILIYAN Petrov feels there is no way back for Dedryck Boyata at Parkhead after the centre-half declared himself unavailable for the crucial Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens this week and letting down his team mates.

Boyata failed to travel to Greece with for the second leg of the Champions League third qualifying round after insisting he could not play and the Scottish champions ended up losing 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

But Rodgers revealed before the game the Belgian centre-half, who is looking to capitalise on his four appearances for his national team at Russia 2018 this summer, could have played in the game in the Olympic Stadium.

The double Treble winners leaked two soft goals to their hosts in a defeat that will cost them in the region of £40million and will have to play in the Europa League in the 2018/19 campaign after two seasons in the Champions League.

Petrov, back at his former club to promote the charity match he has organised along with Liverpool and England player James Milner, believes the defender’s refusal to take part in that vital fixture will not have gone down well in the dressing room.

The Bulgarian can see the former Manchester City player being offloaded in the next fortnight – with a host of top clubs across Europe being linked with moves for the 27-year-old and his £10m transfer fee being used to finance the signing of one or possibly even two replacements.

“If he could have played and he didn't then as a team-mate I will have felt let down,” said Petrov as he promoted A Match for Cancer at Celtic Park on Saturday, September 8. “You owe it to your team-mates and the people you work with every single day.

“If you let them down then it is very difficult to come back from that and earn their trust again. The next step for the board and manager is to see what is right for Celtic and either sell him and bring in two other central defenders.

“There’s definitely a friction in the club, Dedryck has been very good for Celtic, he’s been a strong player for them, he’s been at the heart of the defence and he’ll be a big miss and we saw that against AEK. But when you lose the trust of the players and your manager it’s very difficult to get that back.

“I hope they find the best outcome for Celtic because managers and players they go but the fans and the club stay. He’ll either go or stay and if he stays it’ll be very difficult but we’ve seen a lot of twists and turns in football.

“It’s very difficult these days. Agents have a lot of power in football and that makes it even harder for the club and the manager to deal with players. There are so many opportunities – even the wages in the English Championship are way ahead of the SPFL. When a financial opportunity comes, it’s very hard to turn it down. That’s the difficulty Celtic need to deal with.

“Celtic need to really consider how they do their transfer business. They need to be smart and act early. Because as soon as you get competition from down south, it’s very difficult to keep hold of a player.”

Petrov, who, after a difficult start to his Celtic career, became a huge fan favourite, told the Parkhead club he wanted to leave to test himself in England after spending six years in Scotland.

But when Gordon Strachan, who had succeeded Martin O’Neill as manager in 2005, told him he wanted him to remain he handled the situation professionally and instead ended up agreeing an extension.

“I had the same situation with Gordon,” he said. “I wanted to go but Gordon was brilliant with me because he said I need you for another six months. So we had an agreement that I was running my contract down, we decided I’d sign another contract and if I played well the club would get money.

“I would help integrate Shunsuke Nakamura into the side. We also had young Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney and Gordon wanted me to help them and show them the way you act as a Celtic player. I agreed with that.

“Was I happy or not happy? It doesn’t matter any more. I had an agreement with that manager, I knew what was coming, I knew what I needed to do and for six months I played some of my best football. Gordon was happy and in six months time we shook hands and the club got what they deserved and I left for the Premier League which is what I wanted.”

STILIYAN PETROV and James Milner yesterday launched A Match for Cancer which will take place at Celtic Park on Saturday, September 8. Tickets are now on sale priced £14 for adults and £6 for concessions.