Former Celtic striker and BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton has called on his former club to have next months Glasgow Derby postponed if the Hoops have several key players missing going into the game.
Ange Postecoglou’s side is likely to be without both Tom Rogic and Kyogo Furuhashi as they prepare for a crucial run of games on their return to Scottish Premiership action.
However, they could also be without new additions Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi if they are called up alongside Kyogo for the Japanese national side, as well as an outside shout for American internationalist Cameron Carter Vickers being called up for his nation.
According to the SPFL rules, clubs who are without three or more players due to international call-ups can call for a fixture postponement, and Sutton believes if Celtic are without their key men, that is something they should look into doing.
“Do Celtic want to win the league or not?” he said, speaking to the Daily Record.
“If they do want to win things, then they stand a far better chance with their best players in the side.
“They have three big games coming up they can’t afford to drop points in, and I think they’re well within their rights to call the games off.
“Mick [Michael Gannon] made a pertinent point by saying that while Rangers fans might complain about that, I think they called games off when they were in Division Three, didn’t they, playing against the likes of Cowdenbeath, Forfar, or whoever else, when Ally McCoist was manager, so there can’t be complaints from the other side.
“Celtic have to do what’s right for them.”
Ultimately, it would be a huge blow to face the possibility of having several players missing for the clash at Parkhead at the beginning of February.
However, in my opinion, I don’t believe this is something Ange Postecoglou and his coaching staff will look into doing, given his previous comments surrounding the matter.
It is still to be confirmed if the squad will be without any of the six players mentioned above. However, it appears almost certain we will be without both Rogic and Kyogo going into the fixture.
