Kilmarnock boss Alex Dyer admits he has had to relaunch his search for a goalkeeper after seeing Jake Eastwood ruled out for up to three months.
The Sheffield United keeper only completed his six-month loan switch to Rugby Park last week.
He went straight into Dyer’s line-up for the opening game of the season against Hibernian at Easter Road.
It proved to be a debut to forget, with the 23-year-old at fault for Martin Boyle’s opener before being replaced at half-time after suffering a thigh injury.
Dyer has since been given the news that Eastwood now faces 10 to 12 weeks out of action.
Former Aberdeen back-up Danny Rogers will take over in goal for Celtic’s trip to Ayrshire on Sunday.
But Dyer admits he will now have to go back on the hunt for another keeper.
He said: “Jake is going to be out for 10 to 12 weeks. That’s a blow to us – but also a bigger blow to the young lad.
“He’s come here and wanted to make a go of it.
“We’ll do the best to look after him. We’ll have a chat with Sheffield United and see where we go. It’s a grade-three tear, which is a big injury.
“I’m not sure if he’ll do his rehab back down south but he might want to be near his family and his parent club. We’ll have to discuss that.
“We do have Danny here though, which is reassuring. He’s done well in pre-season. It was harsh on him to not start at Easter Road as he had done well.
“We’re definitely going to have to look at bringing in another keeper, however. That’s one we’re looking at right now – but they’re not easy to find.”
Dyer believes Celtic are already showing they are in top form after watching last week’s 5-1 thrashing of Hamilton.
But he is taking confidence from the scares Accies were able to give the champions before the Hoops cut loose.
The Killie boss, who could also hand former Hearts defender Clevid Dikamona a first appearance in blue and white against Neil Lennon’s team, said: “Those chances that Accies created give us encouragement.
“We’d like to think we can cause them problems as well – but we also know it will be a difficult game.”
