Celtic have been dealt an injury blow during the international break after Daizen Maeda picked up a knock with Japan.

The winger has now exited the squad and he will return to Glasgow for further treatment ahead of a huge run of games.

The extent of Maeda's injury remains to be seen, but a statement from the Japanese FA read: "We would like to inform you that Daizen Maeda (Celtic) will leave the Samurai Blue due to an injury as they prepare for Colombia on Tuesday March 28.

"There is no call-up of a player to replace Maeda."

Maeda's fresh injury comes after he was ruled out for a short period of time after colliding with Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark during a Scottish Premiership fixture.

The 25-year-old missed the subsequent Scottish Cup quarter-final due to the injury.

Ange Postecoglou will be hoping that Maeda's recent knock is not serious enough to rule him out of the upcoming clash Rangers on April 8.

Celtic were dealt another injury blow today with the news that Anthony Ralston was forced to exit the Scotland squad.

The extent of his problem is also unknown, but he will be assessed by Hoops medics ahead of a league fixture against Ross County on April 2.

Meanwhile, 

Mikey Johnston has not given up on his Celtic career as he continues his battle to feel “important”.

The 23-year-old took a further step towards doing that on Wednesday evening when he produced a thrilling cameo as a second-half substitute on his Republic of Ireland debut against Latvia.

Johnston is currently playing his football in Portugal on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes in an effort to regain his best form after a serious knee injury cost him almost a year of his fledgling career and left him struggling to force his way into Bhoys manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans.

Asked if he sees himself back at Celtic in the longer term, he said: “We will see. I want to enjoy football and I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench and not get games. I just want to feel important.

“Last year I did still play 20 games for Celtic, so it’s not like I was pushed out the door. I played in a cup final for him [Postecoglou], he gave me an extra year when I left the club, so that gave me the faith to say he wants me to come back to the club and produce.

“There’s a lot of players in that position, maybe six or seven wingers including myself. I needed consistency, needed more minutes. We had an honest conversation and he said it was best I went elsewhere to get them minutes and I was fine with that.

“I needed a bit of a freshen-up. Opinions on me weren’t accurate and I wanted to change that. I had to get away from the UK, to be honest.”