Dan Orlowitz isn’t convinced that Celtic will have two players on international duty for Japan at the up-coming World Cup qualifiers.
Kyogo Furuhashi has already been heavily involved in the qualifying campaign, returning injured from the September defeat against Saudi Arabia and missing four club matches.
Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda were named in the Japan squad for a match against Uzbekistan this month but dropped out when they moved to Celtic with manager Hajime Moriyasu sticking with J-League players for the fixture.
Yosuke Ideguchi hasn’t been involved at full international level since 2017 but with China on January 27 and Saudi Arabia to be played at home Moriyasu could call up two Celts which together with Tom Rogic being with Australia would permit the hoops to call for postponing three SPFL Premiership matches.
Kyogo 100%
Maeda 30-35%
Hatate 25-30%
Ideguchi 0%Is where I’m sort of at right now on all 4.
I’m sure Celtic reluctant to let Maeda & Hatate go if they aren’t likely to play, but Moriyasu needs players who are match-fit and most of those are going to come from Europe. https://t.co/AP9Z3N2Dkx
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) January 11, 2022
Should Celtic request Premiership postponements if three players are away on World Cup duty?
Yes, we can't go in understrength
No, we must play as scheduled
The upcoming matches are obviously FIFA approved but unlike other World Cup qualifiers aren’t in sync with the UEFA calendar.
While Japan and Australia are in action Celtic face Hearts on January 26, Dundee United on January 29 and then host the Glasgow derby on February 2.
