Kairat Almaty have been dealt a fresh setback just hours before their Champions League play-off second leg against Celtic, with winger Edmilson Filho ruled out through injury.
The Brazilian forward who started in last week’s goalless first leg at Celtic Park, has picked up an injury in training and will miss tonight’s decisive fixture, according to Sports.kz.
It’s the second major blow to the Kazakh side ahead of the match, with teenage star Dastan Satpaev already suspended after picking up a booking deep into stoppage time in Glasgow.
Edmilson caused problems in the first leg and came closest to scoring for the visitors, narrowly missing with a long-range effort after capitalising on a rare Cameron Carter-Vickers error.
His absence, coupled with Satpaev’s suspension, leaves Kairat significantly weakened in attack and hands Celtic a major boost as they look to secure Champions League qualification.
First-choice goalkeeper Zarutskiy is also out, after he got stretchered off at Celtic Park last week.
Brendan Rodgers’ side know a win in Almaty will seal their place in the league stages and the £40m payday that comes with it. With key attacking threats now missing from the home side, Celtic’s task has just become that little bit more manageable.
