English non-league side Harrogate Town have turned down the chance to face off against Celtic in a friendly, at their current Loughborough training base.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Harrogate manager Simon Weaver admitted he would love the chance to face off against the Scottish Champions, but there are too many fears around injuries before their National League play-off for a chance to get into League 2

“I received a great phone call from Danny Wilson just the other day, asking if we wanted to play Celtic at Loughborough, all expenses paid.

Under any other circumstances, we’d love to have played them. What an opportunity, and what a blow to have to say no.

But it’s too big a risk for us with the size of our squad and because we only have four defenders available for the play-offs. We’re walking on egg-shells a little bit in that respect. We’ve got to be very careful at the moment.”

This would have been Celtic’s first game since March when they defeated St Mirren 5-0 in the league at Parkhead. The club are clearly keen to get back playing as early as possible, trying to organise a game as soon as possible.

Although, this may be a small blow to the club that Harrogate have rejected the chance to face of against the Hoops, as they are only in England for a short period of time. There will likely be many more options out there, with other League One and League Two sides down south, looking to get their squad back up and running for the coming season.

Neil Lennon and his side are expected to head off to France next week, to face a triple-header of friendlies against Nice, Lyon and PSG.

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