Neil Lennon is confident Celtic have enough cover in central midfield to cope with the loss of Scott Brown and Beram Kayal.
Captain Brown has been ruled out for eight to 10 weeks with a broken metatarsal while summer signing Kayal is out for a similar period after being told he needed groin surgery.
Lennon has consistently hailed Brown's influence in his team, and told the Huddle Online: "He sees the danger better than most of the other players. He gallops up the ground and eats people up. He gets a grip of games for us and doesn`t let go. People say we have the majority of possession in a lot of games but a lot of that is down to Scott. It's a big blow for him and for us but we do have cover."
Israel international Kayal has made just five appearances since his summer arrival.
"He had this problem in the groin area for a little while and the scans have shown that he needs surgery," Lennon said.
"It's frustrating for him because he was desperate to come here and do well. But we have seen enough of him to know that he will.
"Hopefully come the new year he'll be back fully fit and ready to go."
Lennon, whose team face Dundee United in the SPL on Sunday, added: "While that's a blow we should be able to cope. Marc Crosas has started to play very well, Ki Sung-yueng as well.
"Joe Ledley has played consistently well in that position and Richie Towell is emerging as a first-team player.
"We can put Mark Wilson in there in an emergency, he is comfortable in many positions and Efrain (Juarez) can play in that central position as well."
Source: PA
