Brendan’s options to replace Cameron Carter-Vickers in Celtic backline

Originally posted on The Celtic Star | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 5:25 PM ET

Celtic will be without Cameron Carter-Vickers for between three and five months after the defender suffered an Achilles injury. The USA Internationalist went down after the final whistle sounded on the 2-1 win over Strum Graz last Thursday night.

In a game that saw Celtic lose Kelechi Iheanacho and Alistair Johnston to injury, Celtic supporters were concerned about CCV, who received treatment on the pitch. Unfortunately, the update coming from the rumour mill appears to be that CCV faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The ex-Spurs defender was a miss in the defeat at Tynecastle in which Dane Murray stepped into the breach and struggled, conceding a penalty and scoring an own goal.

With Wednesday’s game against Falkirk, Brendan has to regroup the squad and make the best of the squad that he has at his disposal. Given that Murray struggled at Tynecastle, Brendan could be persuaded to explore his options.

Auston Trusty

Trusty is the standout candidate to come into the team. There was a degree of surprise amongst supporters after Trusty was left on the bench against Hearts. The US Internationalist will have aspirations to play at the World Cup next summer and warming the bench for Celtic is not how he will want to spend his season.

The ex-Sheffield United defender impressed during pre-season but was forced into a spell on the sidelines with a plantar fasciitis. Trusty and Liam Scales played together during the draw against Atalanta but the manager indicated that he would prefer a right footed central defender to partner with the Irishman.

Dane Murray

Murray struggled against Hearts, compounding his early own goal and the two second half flashpoints in which the Jambos went ahead were arguably Murray’s fault. The 22-year-old has pace and quality on the ball but clearly he had a very bad day in Edinburgh.

Given that he is a right footer and the manager picked him at Tynecastle, we could very well see him return to the starting XI against John McGlynn’s Bairns.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey

The Manchester City loanee hasn’t kicked a ball for Celtic, which has been a surprise for many given how highly rated he is by Pep Guardiola & Co at City. Despite the accolades from PL2, Brendan appears not to rate the defender given his limited exposure to the first team.

The 19-year-old will need to have benefit out of the loan spell and if he is not playing and not making match day squads, then it is likely that he will return to City. If he doesn’t get minutes in the wake of CCV’s injury then he will likely return to The Etihad.

This article first appeared on The Celtic Star and was syndicated with permission.

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