Dedryck Boyata has hit back at claims he refused to play for Celtic against AEK Athens.

The Belgian international has missed the Scottish champions' trip to Greece for the second leg of their crunch Champions League qualifier amid speculation he will depart the club.

At Celtic's pre-match media conference, manager Brendan Rodgers said he had to "put his faith in the players who want to be here".

Boyata, however, insists his absence from the squad is due to injuries to his calf and hamstring.

He told Belgian site dhnet.be: "What is happening is, I am in a peculiar position.

"I'm hearing that I 'refused to play' since I came back from holiday.

"That's not true, I didn't refuse to play.

"Since I've been back, I have ran a lot to work out, and I've had minor injuries to my calf and hamstring.

"I went to the physio everyday. This morning (Monday) I was again with the physio, along with other injured from the club.

"I don't know where these rumours are coming from.

"I didn't refuse to play. I have a hamstring injury."

Boyata added: "Last Thursday, I hurt myself by slipping in training and I held my leg directly, the physio saw it and examined me right after the session.

"The next day, I said that I had pain, the exams proved that I could not play against Hearts.

"I'm really behind my team-mates for tonight's big game."