Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata has rubbished speculation that he has refused to play and insisted that he is currently recovering from an injury.
Brendan Rodgers expressed his disappointment on Monday that the defender did not travel to Athens with the rest of the squad and insisted that he will put his faith in players who want to be at the club.
His agent has also suggested that the defender won’t be playing when he is not 100 per cent fit as he doesn’t want to risk injury in the final year of his contract with Celtic.
Boyata’s perceived behaviour has infuriated fans but the defender stressed that he is genuinely injured and has been struggling with a hamstring problem.
He revealed that he suffered the knock last week in training, which ruled him out of Saturday’s game against Hearts and insisted that he is still trying to recover from the problem.
The defender told Belgian outlet DH: “What’s going on is that I am in a special set of circumstances.
“When I hear that I've refused to play since I came back from vacation, it is wrong.
“I ran a lot on the sidelines of the group training sessions for physical work and I felt pain in my calf and hamstring.
“I went to the physio every day. I don’t know where these rumours came from that I refused to play. I have a little problem in my hamstring.”
He continued: "Last Thursday, I hurt myself when I slipped in training and I held my leg immediately.
"The physio saw it and examined me right after the session. I put ice for 30 minutes on my leg and, the next day, I specified that I had pains.
"The exams proved I could not play against Hearts and, since then, I'm doing everything I can to be ready as quickly as possible."
Boyata was subject of a transfer offer from Fulham earlier this month but Celtic refused to sell the Belgian.
He is currently being chased by Fenerbahce and Sevilla and is keen to quit Celtic Park.
