Leigh Griffiths and Kieran Tierney have given Celtic a Champions League boost by withdrawing from the Scotland squad to face Malta.
Rather than facing a low key international on a holiday island the duo will be recovering from injury at Lennoxtown with less than a fortnight to go till the visit to Barcelona.
After being substituted in the 4-1 win over Aberdeen Griffiths revealed: “I have been struggling with my hamstring since before we played Hapoel at home, but I’ve battled through it. I’ll go away with Scotland, see the physios there and what they’re thinking.
“I always want to play for my country. I don’t want to let anyone down. Hopefully I can pull through and get a chance.”
With Scott Brown retiring from Scotland duty Brendan Rodgers can monitor three of his key players as he prepares for a vital period of fixtures during September.
The international weekend has barely rated a mention among supporters as the transfer window draws to a close.
Cristian Gamboa became Rodgers’ fifth signing of the transfer window when he completed a £1m switch from West Brom.
The Costa Rican international defender has barely featured for West Brom but has shown enough to convince Rodgers to bring him to Celtic.
Hoops fans are still hopeful that there will be one big name addition to arrive at the club although it looks less likely that it’ll be James McCarthy.
The Everton midfielder missed Saturday’s win over Stoke City and could be sidelined for upto a month through injury.
Last week Peter Lawwell promised Rodgers the profit from reaching the Champions League with all eyes on twitter to see if there will be a deadline day arrival at Celtic Park.
