Celtic rocked as star player faces 5-month lay-off as injury crisis deepens ahead of Hearts title clash

Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is facing a five-month absence after injuring his Achilles during Thursday’s 2-1 win over Sturm Graz. Carter-Vickers was carried off the pitch by a physio at the of the Europa League match and manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the centre-half has suffered a significant injury. It comes as a major blow for Celtic ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table Premiership match against Hearts at Tynecastle, with the defending champions - who trial the Jam Tarts by five points - also set to without right-back Alistair Johnston plus forwards Daizen Maeda and Kelechi Iheanacho due to hamstring issues. “It’s not great news,” Rodgers said on Friday afternoon. “He looks like he’s done his Achilles which could mean he’s out for anything between three and five months. So we’re just awaiting confirmation of that. “Cam’s been a very important member of the squad and been a great centre-half for the club. But I always think what it does is opens the door and gives an opportunity to someone else. “That opportunity came to Liam Scales and he’s been brilliant during my time here and you saw his performance last night, he was so good. “He's been my most consistent player [second time around]. He's been absolutely fantastic. He's been a real robust stalwart for the team. “You see how strong he was against Graz. He can score goals. I said before that we need everyone to contribute to goals. The goal comes from us playing at the tempo. We get the ball in, we get it going quickly. And then he makes the finish look a lot easier than what it was. “I thought he was one of our really outstanding players.”