Brendan Rodgers has explained why Liel Abada was absent from the Celtic squad that beat St Mirren in the Scottish Cup fifth round, saying that the winger was 'not in the right frame of mind' to take part in the match.

Rodgers had described the Israeli's situation as 'challenging' in the lead up to the game following criticism of his performance and body language in the win over Hibs in midweek, with Abada disappearing up the tunnel on the final whistle instead of taking part in the celebrations between the team and the supporters.

That led Rodgers to grant him a leave of absence for the game in Paisley as goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda set up a quarter final tie against Livingston at Celtic Park, and the Celtic manager gave his reasoning after the game.

“He wasn’t in a right frame of mind.," Rodgers said.

“I’ve spoke a lot to Liel and it has been a challenging time for him.

“I just felt when he came into the game the other night, it just wasn’t him.

“So we gave him this chance to have a few days and clear his mind. I’ll have a chat with him again next week, see where he’s at.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers says he is no further forward in knowing exactly how long Alistair Johnston will be sidelined following a scan, saying that the fracture he sustained to the side of his head at Easter Road could keep the right back out for as much as four weeks, or as little as 10 days.

“We’re just waiting to see again on him," he said.

“The thinking is we’ll have a look in 10 days to see where he’s at.

“But it could be 10 days to four weeks. We’ll just have to wait and see.”