Brendan Rodgers rues 'avoidable' Liel Abada Celtic injury as flight oversight leaves boss in Champions League frustration

Brendan Rodgers reckons Liel Abada has suffered a painful lesson for being plane stupid after getting crocked with Israel.

Celtic have suffered a huge blow with the wide man ruled out until Christmas – meaning he’s set to miss the entire Champions League campaign. Rodgers revealed the 21-year-old ripped his thigh on international duty when he was taking pot shots at goal at the end of his national side work out.

The Hoops boss – who will have Reo Hatate back to face Dundee tomorrow – can’t replace Abada in his 25-man Champions League squad named earlier this week. And he admitted it was more frustrating as the injury was avoidable as Abada failed to get on board with the risks of shooting after flying long distances. Rodgers said: “It is what it is. There is an opportunity now for someone else to come in. It’s a shame for Liel because he did well over the course of pre-season and looked dangerous. He has qualities I like and qualities we can improve on.

“He was confident that he wanted to sign his new deal and continue his development. So to be out with something that you can actually control is the frustrating thing. Control as in ‘don’t do the shooting exercise at the end of training’.

“I had this before with a young player Suso at Liverpool, who now plays at Sevilla. When you fly and then you land and go out to training, your legs are still full of pressure from flights. So when you are shooting and doing repetitive exercises that puts strain on them. It’s certainly something you can avoid, but young players see a net and they want to hit it. It will be a good learning experience for Liel going forward.”

Rodgers insisted he won’t be digging out Israel boss Alon Hazan – or any international manager for that matter.

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