Stephen Welsh blow as Celtic star's injury timeline revealed amid mounting defensive crisis for Brendan Rodgers

Stephen Welsh will be sidelined for at least two months - leaving Celtic facing a defensive crisis.

Cameron Carter-Vickers is already out for a few weeks with a hamstring issue and now Welsh also faces a long spell on the sidelines. The home-grown defender suffered ligament damage in his ankle after an accidental training ground clash on Friday.

The 23-year-old was sent for a scan yesterday and they have confirmed that he will be out for at least eight weeks - if not longer. It means that Welsh will miss a major chunk of domestic games and the start of the Champions League. It is a major blow for Welsh, who penned a new long-term contract on Friday, and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

Rodgers had given the defender a major boost by naming him as one of the four centre halves he wanted to go with. The problems is Carter-Vickers and Welsh are now sidelined and that leaves just Maik Nawrocki and new signing Gustaf Lagerbielke from that original four.

New signing Lagerbielke is now likely to make his debut in Sunday's Viaplay Cup clash with Kilmarnock. Celtic’s injuries, which also include Reo Hatate’s thigh problem, could have implications for others.

Aberdeen want to buy Liam Scales but he could now come back into the first-team plan at Celtic because of the injuries. The Irishman impressed under Rodgers in pre-season but so far Aberdeen have failed to strike a fee with Celtic. Celtic also have Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi but is looking increasingly likely he could go out on loan in this transfer window.