CELTIC are preparing to welcome back Daizen Maeda after Japan’s shock exit from the Asian Cup.
The Blue Samurai crashed out to Iran in the quarter final despite holding a half-time lead.
Maeda started against Iran on the right-side of the Japan attack[/caption]
He was substituted midway through the second half with the score at 1-1[/caption]
And he was helpless on the bench as Iran scored a late, late penalty to send the Blue Samurai home[/caption]
Hoops forward Maeda led the attack for Hajime Moriyasu’s side but watched in agony from the bench as a 96th minute penalty sent the favourites home in Qatar.
That means there will be an earlier than expected arrival for Maeda – but that news is tempered by Reo Hatate’s status.
The midfielder is feared to have “done both calves” during the win over Bahrain in the last 16.
Brendan Rodgers opened up on the midfielder’s latest injury – after he spent a long spell on the sidelines with a hamstring complaint at the start of the season.
He said: “Reo has done both his calves and will be out for about six weeks.”
The Hoops’ five-way Asian Cup representation has been cut down to just two – both in Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea squad.
Hyeongyu Oh and Hyunjun Yang face Jordan in Tuesday’s semi-final after sending Marco Tilio and Australia out in the quarter final.
Tilio won’t be Scotland bound of course having agreed a return on loan to old club Melbourne City in the early hours of transfer deadline day.
With Oh and Maeda absent Brendan Rodgers moved to strengthen his attacking options on Thursday, announcing the loan signing of Norwich City’s Adam Idah late on, to complement Kyogo Furuhashi.
But the recruitment was slammed by a section of the club support.
They displayed a banner before and after the 1-1 draw with Aberdeen which read ‘Celtic Board – On Your Heads Be It’.
Rodgers has urged his players to ignore the mood music and protests in the stands and focus on the job in hand.
He said: “I can only concentrate on the players and what we do on the field.
“You always find that winning games and playing well can ease those situations and that’s what we aim to do.
“Supporters pay their money and have every right to say what they want to say.
“But for us, we can only control what we do on the pitch.
Reo Hatate faces another spell on the sidelines[/caption]
Frontman Oh is still involved and in the semi-finals with South Korea next week[/caption]
Celtic fans protested the signing policy before and after the draw[/caption]
“If we do that we’ll be okay.
“The key thing is not allowing it to become a distraction for us. That’s really important.
“Whatever goes on outside, you have to be able to deal with it.
“At a club like Celtic, at the biggest clubs, there will always be that pressure there.
“I don’t need to add any more on to the players. They understand that playing for Celtic brings that.
“My job is to give them the confidence to find the results we need.
“There’s still a long way to go.”
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