Cameron Carter-Vickers hopes Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels can stick around for this month's do-or-die Champions League play-off. Everton are chasing the signature of Canadian right-back Johnston while West Ham have had bids rejected for Belgian midfielder Engels.
The in-demand pair both started Monday's flag night win over Dundee and Carter-Vickers hopes they'll still be in the building for the £40million showdown with Austrians LASK.
Full Commitment
Carter-Vickers said: "I think every player here, while they're still at the club, are going to give 100 per cent. I think you see that from Ali and Arne's performance on Monday. Fully committed."
"That's what every player will be while they're here. Of course, it would be nice to be as strong as you can going into that fixture, but whatever the squad looks like, we'll deal with it."
"I can only speak about the players that are here. I think everyone here plays an important part. We're a very together group. I think that was kind of proved last season. All we can do as players is work with the players we have and that's what we do. I mean, obviously you're aware of the outside noise."
"I'm not going to say you're not. But, again, we're a very close group and for us we just focus on the players that are in the building and trying to do the best we can."
Redemption Mission
Celtic are looking to make amends for last season's shocking exit to Kazakh minnows Kairat Almaty. Austrian champions LASK visit Parkhead in the first leg on August 19 before the do-or-die crunch in Linz a week later.
Carter-Vickers said: "It's almost a season-defining game so early in the season. We're ready. I think any game we had would have been a tough tie for us. We're looking forward to it and we'll go in there with positivity."
"What lessons have we learned from last season? Score a goal, that'll be it. I'm joking. Obviously, we know whoever you get in the qualifiers will be a tough tie. So, we've got to go there. First at home and do our best to win the game and then try and go away and get the result we want."
Personal Return
The American stopper marked his long-awaited return to competitive action with a clean sheet after recovering from a nightmare Achilles injury. He said: "It was good. Obviously, pre-season, I only played 60 minutes. So the last 15, 20 there was difficult. But yeah, it's good to be back in competitive games."
"I probably missed about eight, nine months of football. It's never going to be quick to get back to kind of exactly where you want to be. But it's a work in progress and I'm feeling pretty good."
Talisman Benjamin Nygren netted 21 goals for the Hoops last season and headed home the winner to get the Double-winners' title defence up and running. Carter-Vickers added: "That's what he does. I think he proved last season that he's a goal threat and he constantly gets in good positions where the ball seems to find him and he puts the chances away. So that's definitely a skill that's key in football."
