Tom Rogic will NOT be joining Celtic in their Dubai training camp this January with the player now confirmed to play in the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup.
The tournament starts on the 5th of January, running through to the start of February.
This means if Australia manage to make it all the way the midfielder could miss game time for Celtic as well as the downtime other players will be enjoying when the winter shutdown begins in the new year.
As it stands, Celtic have four games between the 19th-31st of January which Rogic is most likely to miss even if the Socceroos are eliminated earlier in the competition.
Brendan Rodgers was adamant back in the summer that his stars would get a two-week break before starting pre-season, we wonder if he will insist Rogic does the same after the tournament is over.
Syria, Palestine and Jordan join Australia in Group B, and Tom and his international teammates kick off their campaign on 6th Jan.
Find Australia’s full squad here at the Socceroos Official Website.
Country before club until injury. Seems thats always the way. I wish you well Tom, hope the socceroos win it. Enjoy the break in the heat.