Brendan Rodgers hopes Callum McGregor will return for Celtic before end of March

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been encouraged by the progress of Callum McGregor as he looks to get his captain back to fitness after the international break.

The midfielder will miss his third consecutive game when Celtic host St Johnstone on Saturday as he nurses an Achilles problem, and he was left out of the Scotland squad for the upcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

However, Rodgers is hopeful that the 30-year-old could be available for the visit of Livingston on March 30.

“He is feeling good but he needs to get some clearance work in over the next week to 10 days and we will assess it for the Livingston game when we get back,” the Celtic boss said.

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Cameron Carter-Vickers is set to return from a hamstring issue when Celtic host Saints but Liam Scales is likely to drop out of central defence.

“Cameron Carter-Vickers is fine, he has trained and looks good so that’s great he is available,” Rodgers said.

“Liam Scales will miss the game, we think, he has picked up a knock in training.

“He has been so robust, everything about him has been great since he came into the team. Sadly he misses this game because he has played every other minute but he should be back after the international break.”

Luis Palma, Maik Nawrocki and Reo Hatate are also working to a similar timeline while Yang Hyun-jun completes a two-match suspension on Saturday.

The loss of Scales continues a theme of Celtic’s back line being disrupted on an almost weekly basis.

“It’s throughout the team but mainly in that defensive sector, which is where your stability comes from,” Rodgers said.

“That’s been the biggest frustration over the course of the season, not being able to put out our strongest 11. 

“It has felt like we probably haven’t had the options for a lot of the season but the players have given me everything, they have worked ever so hard, and we can still finish off the season in a really high moment.”

Rodgers stressed after last weekend’s 4-2 cup win over Livingston that his side’s football looks different when he has the likes of McGregor, Carter-Vickers and Hatate available.

But he will work to ensure he gets the best out of the likes of Tomoki Iwata, who has stepped into McGregor’s deep midfield role in recent weeks.

“It’s just supporting the players that we do have,” Rodgers said. “They are very good players.

“But how football works, there are players who are more influential in teams, and that’s why you have different levels of teams, because of what certain players can and can’t do.

“But we have players who have given their all and what they need is that support. So that’s what we do.

“Callum is a top, top European midfield player and you miss that quality, that football brain, and the speed of his technique and how he gets you through the pitch.

“But Tomo (Iwata) has come in and done a very, very good job in that position. So we try and maximise the players that we have to allow them to perform the very best that we can.

“We have some very good leaders in the group in Greg Taylor, Joe Hart and Ali Johnston. So these guys have stepped up when Callum hasn’t been playing.”