Celtic duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate have once again been omitted from the Japan squad.

The Samurai Blue boss Hajime Moriyasu snubbed both Hoops players for the up-and-coming friendly double-header against Uruguay and Colombia.

Treble chasing Kyogo and Hatate were also left out of the national team set up for the World Cup finals in Qatar at the end of the last year.

However, Hoops winger Daizen Maeda, who scored against Croatia at the tournament, has retained his place in the squad this time around.

Japan boss Moriyasu explained his latest decision and revealed that he has tuned in to watch all of Ange Postecoglou's sides games this season.

He also took a veiled dig at the quality of the Scottish Premiership when justifying his squad but insisted that both players have qualities that they could both bring to the national team.

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He said: "I've watched all of Celtic's games and seen what they've accomplished and their presence in the team. But there's no bar to clear to be called up; it's a comprehensive decision.

"We think about the level of the league and various other factors when making the decision. For this squad we focused on the squad from Qatar as well as some new players. There will be other call-ups. As I said, we're trying to build strongest team possible ahead of 2026.

"In order to do that we're taking a wide view of how to build the team... as I think we all agree, (Reo & Kyogo) would absolutely be able to contribute to the team, but this time I wanted to try out some different players and that's why they weren't selected."

Meanwhile Scotland boss Steve Clarke also caused consternation when he failed to pick Celtic full-back Greg Taylor for his 23-man squad.

Taylor was left out of Clarke's Scotland squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Cyprus and Spain later this month. The 25-year-old has played 34 times for his club and country this term.

Surprisingly Clarke revealed that Taylor was nursing an injury and that he omitted him for that reason after speaking to the player.

Clark said: "I have had a chat with Greg (Taylor). It is really a Celtic issue, more than for me to comment on. He is carrying a little injury.

“He will probably benefit from a rest rather than coming away with the national team. Celtic should elaborate on that a little bit.”

Join Tony Haggerty and Aidan Macdonald as they discuss all this and more in the video below.