Despite the hopes of Brendan Rodgers last night’s UEFA signing deadline passed without any additions to the Celtic squad.
There were no signs of life through the day despite expectations of a defender arriving or Scott Sinclair coming in from Aston Villa.
Last season’s squad has been bolstered by the arrivals of Moussa Dembele and Kristoffer Ajer but there are no other names to face Astana over the next fortnight.
UEFA do allow for one wild card signing upto 24 hours before the first leg but with complex visa and travel requirements it’s unlikely that anyone will be making their debut in Kazakhstan.
Speaking yesterday before the deadline passed Chris Davies said: “We know the areas we need to improve on and we have identified targets. It would be a big boost for us if we can get people in who are going to make the difference.
“We have been pretty consistent in the areas we want to strengthen since day one in here and on targets we want. We have the wild card option which is a buffer for us as well.”
Tomorrow Celtic face Leicester in the International Champions Cup with a trip to Dublin to take on Barcelona falling between the two ties against Astana.
The glamour of those matches will be set aside as Celtic focus on their Champions League qualifiers and the chance to join Leicester, Barcelona and others in the group phase.
From the moment he was appointed the group phase has been the target for Rodgers but as he prepares for two demanding ties with Astana he’ll largely be going in with the squad that he inherited from Ronny Deila.