John Kennedy says his side are defensively short ahead of their crucial Champions League qualifier second leg against Kazakh champions FC Astana.

The Celts prepare for the match with an International Champions Cup friendly against European greats Barcelona in Dublin on Saturday, but will be without new signing Kolo Toure.

Speaking ahead of the flight to Ireland, Kennedy said: "Kolo is still working fitness wise, so he'll stay back and do some extra work. It's probably a bit early for him to play tomorrow.

"We think if he stays at home he can get a few extra sessions fitness wise."

The efforts being made to guide Toure towards match fitness are indicative of the defensive injury crisis that Celtic face at this early stage of the season, and Kennedy is well aware of the issue at hand.

"We are short defensively, there is no question about that," the 32-year-old said. "Erik [Sviatchenko] is a question mark, Jozo [Simunovic], Dedryck [Boyata], so we are short on numbers there.

"We just have to make sure whatever we put out on the pitch is strong enough to win the game."

Celtic took home a 1-1 result from Kazakhstan, bagging a potentially vital away goal in the process, and will host Astana on August 3.