Celtic hope Cameron Carter-Vickers can hit peak level this season – but Reo Hatate situation is less clear

Rodgers thinks the American defender, who is scheduled to play against Motherwell, can be a true asset.For their Sunday lunchtime match against Motherwell, Celtic are expected to welcome back key central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers. Despite the American’s inconsistent season, manager Brendan Rodgers still has faith that Carter-Vickers can reach his peak performance by the end of the campaign.

Carter-Vickers, who is primarily recognised as the key defender for the Celtics, underwent knee surgery last season and missed a significant portion of the preseason. Since then, he has experienced muscle strains and hasn’t played for the first team since the match against Ross County on January 27. With 12 games remaining in the Premiership season, Rodgers believes that his persistent injury problems stem from not having a “physical base” to build upon after missing the summer’s training sessions. Nevertheless, the manager is optimistic that the 26-year-old center-half can be a major factor during the title run-in.

“I believe that has been his challenge,” Rodgers remarked. “You build that base during the preseason, which he missed a lot of.” Players who have surgeries and miss out on receiving their physical bases have been observed to experience this in the past. Then, in a sense, you are pursuing your season. With him, it has been the case. His knee hasn’t fully healed, which affects other areas. Hopefully, though, this will be the last of it.

When asked if the Celtics might not see their greatest player until the next season, Rodgers said, “Not necessarily.” Once he catches up, he’ll be all right. He can still perform at a very high level for us because there is still less than one-third of the season left. But I believe that, like most players, he gains that base once the preseason is under way.

Less encouraging news concerns midfielder Reo Hatate, who hasn’t featured for Celtic since a Champions League game against Atletico Madrid on October 25 at home. The 26-year-old was called up to the Japanese team for the Asian Cup in January, and he played in three games before having to return to Glasgow due to a calf strain. Rodgers is unable to provide a specific timeframe for his availability for selection. The coach said, “Reo is still a few weeks away.” He’s still a little ways off because he’s strengthening his calf. Will he return in time for the split? I don’t know what to do.

FOR MORE NEWS CLICK HERE