Celtic line up to win Kyogo and Hatate lottery as Philippe Clement sends stern warning to Rangers
Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu is willing to think outside the box in a bid to keep his top names fresh.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers could be handed a mammoth boost as forward-thinking Japan draw up a 120-man list for their next squad to avid burning out their biggest stars.
Boss Hajime Moriyasu is willing to think outside the box in a bid to keep his top names fresh and that could be good news for Celtic star trio Kyogo, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda. And that means a host of outside the box candidates – such as Parkhead fringe men Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi – could be drafted in for the World Cup qualifying clashes with Myanmar and Syria in November. Japan are on course to reach the major tournament in North America in 2026 and the Samurai Blue boss also has the looming Asian Cup in January to prepare for.
Maeda missed his country’s most recent games with injury, however, the chance to put Kyogo and Hatate on ice in Glasgow in a month where Celtic face Champions League away days against Atletico Madrid and Lazio would be a sizeable boost for Rodgers as he aims to find a spark after consecutive defeats to start Group E.
Meanwhile, Andy Walker expects Philippe Clement to have a Rangers impact, however, he does not expect it to be big enough to overthrow Celtic as Scottish football’s dominant force this season, with the champions in 11 of the past 12 seasons already boasting a seven-point lead.
