Brendan Rodgers addresses Greg Taylor Celtic concern after heavy Motherwell tackle; Nat Phillips update
Brendan Rodgers is hoping that Greg Taylor won’t be suffering from any ill effects resulting from a heavy Motherwell challenge on him late on in Saturday’s Celtic victory at Fir Park.
Taylor was cemented by Brodie Spencer in the 90th minute of the Scottish Premiership clash and the defender was left in serious discomfort. It left fans concerned about any issues going forward, with big matches at Celtic Park this week.
The manager has even since admitted that the left-back would have even been substituted off had there been any allocation left.
To the Scotland international’s credit, he got up and played on, even assisting the glorious winning goal from Matt O’Riley. The midfielder volleyed in Taylor’s sumptuous cross. But Celtic have been left waiting on any reaction to the heavy tackle that preceded that drama.
Rodgers said [Celtic Way]: “Greg hopefully will be okay, I think If we had another sub he might have come off, but he soldiered on. He’ll probably be sore, but we’ll see how he is in the next couple of days.”
The Bhoys badly need Taylor to be available for the home match against Lazio on Wednesday. Taylor’s direct cover, Alexandro Bernabei, is not in the UEFA Champions League squad, so it would fall to another to fill in at left-back.
With the central options slim too, we couldn’t even move Scales across without weakening another part of the defence. The good news is Nat Phillips’ recovery from an ankle problem is going to plan.
Rodgers added on his substitute appearance against the Steelmen: “The idea was to get him onto the pitch and get his pitch geography again. He seemed okay, the last couple of days in training was much better. The plan was to give him half an hour, so that was good.”
Phillips now looks set to make just his second start at home to the Italians, with Gustaf Lagerbielke suspended. It’ll be a big night for him and could well see him complete his first-ever 90 minutes in a Celtic shirt.
In the meantime, everyone keep their fingers crossed on Taylor.
In other news, Celtic have golden chance to put immediate pressure on Steven Davis, Alex Rae and Rangers.
