December cannot afford to be the cruellest month for Celtic.

If the loss of Jota for the remainder of the year felt like a blow given the magnitude of the month, add Kyogo Furuhashi into the mix and it becomes a real headache for Ange Postecoglou.

The volume of games is one thing but the magnitude of them is another over the coming weeks.

Firstly, the fact that Celtic are four points off the pace at the top of table has always meant an additional layer of pressure to league games given the perils of dropping further behind.

But with the League Cup final offering the first chance of silverware this term and a celebrated opening to Postecoglou’s reign, doing it without a recognised fit striker at the club makes the task significantly harder.

With a game against Rangers to open the New Year – a game that comes under the old six-pointer bracket given that it affords the chance to potentially close the gap or fall further adrift – there has been a need for all key players to be fit and available.

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou's Celtic Q+A in full: Celtic boss laments Kyogo injury amid 'ridiculous' schedule 

Kyogo and Jota have been fundamental to the creativity within Celtic this term, pivotal to the menace that Celtic have shown from middle to front this season. Individually each is a loss, both together unambiguously weaken Celtic’s attacking hand. Together they account for 22 goals this season for the Parkhead side.

It raises questions as to the merits of putting Kyogo on for the injured Albian Ajeti on Thursday night when he was the only fit striker left available.

Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing but Mikey Johnston can play through the middle and would have been a more sensible option given the lack of tension in the game as Celtic’s fate was confirmed last month in Germany.

A race for fitness towards the end of the month will mean that Jota could yet squeeze in for the game against Rangers at Celtic Park while it remains to be seen if Greek forward Giorgos Giakoumakis, whom Postecoglou said last week was out for probably another three weeks, could be fit for then.

Certainly, what it does illustrate yet again is that while Celtic numerically have depth within the squad they lack quality when it comes to like-for-like changes. The loss of Kyogo is difficult to quantify given he has made Celtic click so often while Jota has also dragged them through certain games.

Getting to January and bringing in reinforcements is vital but before Celtic get to that point they need to ensure that they do not lose ground before then.