Celtic returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Motherwell in their own backyard. In the process, the Hoops snapped a three-game losing streak, which needed to end as soon as possible.

Camilo Duran, who has been Celtic's signing of the summer, opened the scoring. It was then doubled by Benjamin Nygren, who has his fair share of critics but does manage to put up a strong contribution from midfield.

On another day, the scoreline could have been even more one-sided but Celtic cannot complain about three points right now, after how tough things have been for them in recent weeks.

Tougher tests lie ahead though. The next one for them is a test against Benfica in the Europa League. And unfortunately, it looks like they could be without a key player on that day.

One name that was missing from the squad today was that of Cameron Carter-Vickers. And it looks like he might end up missing the Europa League game against Benfica on Thursday as well.

As reported by The Celtic Way, Martin O'Neill said regarding the status of Carter-Vickers ahead of the game against Benfica: "He might not be fit for Thursday. I think he's got a strain and he's missing this one.

"Physios and the medical team have told me that Thursday might be too early."

It goes without saying that Carter-Vickers is one of Celtic's most experienced players. The club could do with his presence in a vital position like the heart of defence, away against a team like Benfica.

Unfortunately, it does look like Celtic are likely to be without Carter-Vickers when they take on Benfica.

Obviously, in recent times, Carter-Vickers has been in the headlines for his comments regarding the team playing a 'too random' brand of football and needing a script. But his injury does provide a fresh problem for the Hoops on top of that.

In the absence of Carter-Vickers, Dane Murray and Liam Scales started in the heart of defence in the game against Motherwell this weekend.

While on paper, that might not be the strongest centre-back pairing for Celtic, they did their job, keeping a clean sheet. There is not much more that one can ask for.

Obviously, Celtic do have another option in central defence in the form of Auston Trusty. He was on the bench against Motherwell but was not called upon by O'Neill. Will that change against Benfica?

It is very possible that the Northern Irishman could look towards the experience of Trusty in a tough away match in Portugal against Benfica instead of relying on Murray.