Celtic: £6m star 'hopeful' over major injury boost at Parkhead | OneFootball

Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is still hopeful that his recent setback won’t affect his chances of playing at the World Cup, according to insider Dean Jones.

The 24-year-old has been in outstanding form for the Hoops, but he’s currently nursing an injury, which forced him to withdraw from the USA squad and miss their recent World Cup warm-up matches.

What’s the latest news involving Carter-Vickers?

Carter-Vickers, who made his loan deal permanent from Tottenham in a £6m deal this summer, has hardly missed a game since he initially made the switch on loan in 2021.

But he suffered an injury against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League last month, which forced him to sit out the game with St Mirren before the international break.

Carter-Vickers’ absence was felt, too, after the Hoops saw their 38-game unbeaten Scottish Premiership run end in Paisley.

According to the Scottish Sun, the centre-back is also in danger of missing the game with Motherwell at Parkhead this afternoon after sitting out the USA’s fixtures with Japan and Saudi Arabia.

But with the World Cup in Qatar still around six weeks away, Jones doesn’t think that Carter-Vickers’ injury puts his chances of participating at a first ever major tournament under threat.

What did Jones say about Carter-Vickers?

He told GIVEMESPORT: “From what I understand he’s still hopeful that this doesn’t put his World Cup status at risk. So, hopefully that is the case.”

Who could replace Carter-Vickers against Motherwell?

Carter-Vickers’ setback comes at a bad time for Ange Postecoglou, who’s already been without one of his first choice centre-backs, Carl Starfelt, for the last three fixtures.

Therefore, Carter-Vickers’ absence means the Celtic boss will be without his best two central defenders for the second game on the bounce.

Against St Mirren, Postecoglou opted to partner summer signing Moritz Jenz with youngster Stephen Welsh, but after watching his side slip to a disappointing loss, he could look to make changes.

But that might prove difficult, unless the Australian wants to start players out of position.

That’s because Jenz and Welsh are his only fit senior centre-backs, so starting them together and getting them used to playing alongside each other might be best, especially with some big Champions League games coming on the horizon.