Brendan Rodgers faces defensive dilemma
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers faces more defensive headaches against Hamilton with only one recognised centre-back likely to be available.
But Rodgers has warned that ongoing inconsistency of selection was no excuse for the "simple goals'' they have been conceding.
Rodgers was unusually strong with his public criticism of his team following a 1-1 Europa League play-off first-leg draw with Suduva on Thursday after slackness at a free-kick saw them quickly lose an early lead.
Poor defending against AEK Athens already cost Celtic a Champions League place and Rodgers has little over a week to sort out their problems ahead of the visit of a rejuvenated Rangers.
But the injured Jack Hendry and Marvin Compper have been ruled out of Sunday's Ladbrokes Premiership encounter against Accies and Jozo Simunovic is having a scan on the ankle problem which forced him off in Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Rodgers was no further forward over the situation with Dedyrck Boyata, who has declared himself unavailable since the club prevented him moving to Fulham.
Rodgers has the option of bringing full-backs Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney into a back three with Kristoffer Ajer on Sunday and the makeshift nature of such a backline would be nothing new.
"It's been ongoing for my time here,'' Rodgers said on the inconsistency of selection in defence.
"Every manager or coach will tell you, you have got to have some periods when players are out, but ideally you want players that have that robustness to play and be there every week and carry that bit of luck as well to steer clear of injuries.
"It's been constant change for us in there for numerous reasons. When it's like that then stability can be difficult.
"However, we can still do better. The goals we concede are very, very simple straightforward goals. We have a lot of domination in the games, creating opportunities and the little bits of defending we have to do, we all feel we can be better in those moments. That's something we have to strive for.
"It's always collective. Of course everyone will look for defenders but we defend as a team, from the front to the back. We always have to ensure that fundamentally.
"If you look to our record-breaking season in the first season, we defended really, really well in terms of the intensity, press and aggression and that always leads to great opportunities to score, and we end up with our record goals.
"So it's collective and it's everyone's responsibility. But certainly any good team will always ensure they have two really good centre-halves that can dominate. We have centre-halves here that can do that. It's just ensuring the availability and the consistency.''
Celtic face a massive week off the field as well as on it.
Boyata has been linked with moves to Sevilla and Turkey and his reluctance to play in major European games will make it difficult for Rodgers to reintroduce him if no move materialises.
The Hoops boss made a point of praising Hendry for playing through ankle pain during last weekend's win over Partick Thistle.
And Celtic are scouring for alternatives after a move for Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna fell flat.
On the Boyata situation, he said: "Players react to situations in different ways.
"The guys tell me about some of the situations here with Virgil van Dijk who had the opportunity to go but played on for another year.
"His team-mates needed him and he played. He has now gone on to be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League if not in Europe.'