Celtic sweat over Daizen Maeda availability after forward leaves Japan camp

Maeda linked up with Japanese national team earlier this week and was an unused substitute for the Blue Samurai’s 2-2 draw with Paraguay on Friday in Suita. Manager Hajime Moriyasu had hoped to use the 27-year-old for Tuesday’s friendly against Brazil in Tokyo, but instead has decided to remove him from the squad on fitness grounds.

Maeda will now travel back to Glasgow and will be assessed by Celtic medical staff. The nature of the forward’s injury remains unclear.

Celtic are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Dens Park to face Dundee in the Premiership. They currently sit in second place in the league standings after seven matches and trail leaders Hearts by two points.

Maeda remains a key part of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic squad despite him trying to leave before the end of the summer transfer window. Maeda told club officials that he wanted to explore other options, but was told he would need to stay put until at least January as a replacement was unable to be sourced.

Celtic’s player of the year last season, Maeda has struggled to hit the same heights this term - potentially due to the uncertainty surrounding his future. However, he scored the winning goal for Celtic in their last match, a 3-2 win over Motherwell, and was likely to be involved against Dundee.

Rodgers’ other options in attack for the trip to Tayside include Kelechi Iheanacho, Sebastian Tounekti, James Forrest, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Yang Hyun-jun and Johnny Kenny.