Terry Butcher does not believe that Celtic have had someone reliable at the back since Virgil van Dijk left the club, and believes that opposing sides have sensed weakness.
The Hoops have conceded 14 goals, the fewest in the Scottish Premiership this season, but have not had it all their way as Rangers and Kilmarnock are right behind them in the league table.
Brendan Rodgers’ side lost their last game before the winter break to arch-rivals Rangers, and that allowed Steven Gerrard’s side to draw level on points with the Hoops.
Celtic signed Filip Benkovic on loan from Leicester City in the summer, but Butcher feels they have missed a reliable centre-back since Van Dijk left to head to Southampton.
“The Celtic defence showed in the Old Firm game they have got a mistake in them”, Butcher was quoted as saying by the Evening Times.
“Rangers didn’t quite punish all the mistakes. That was down to Craig Gordon, who had an excellent game.
“They have to sort that out, of course they do.
"But how long have we been talking about Celtic centre halves? Since Van Dijk left really", Butcher stressed.
“Celtic haven’t really had a strong centre half who is fierce and competitive and who is going to lead the back four since him.
“You look at them and think: ‘He’s got a fault in him and he’s got a fault in him’.
"If I was a manager and my team was playing against Celtic that would be an area I would try to target."
Celtic will hope to muster a stronger defensive performance in the second half of the season and better last season’s showing when they conceded just 25 goals in 38 Premiership games.
