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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Celtic suffer injury blow ahead of Rangers clash as Reo Hatate ruled out

Reo Hatate will not play for Celtic against Rangers due to an injury - but Aaron Mooy is available for selection.

Ange Postecoglou has confirmed the Japanese midfielder will not feature in Saturday's league clash through a knock.

However, he is set to welcome Mooy back into the Celtic squad as he returned to fitness in time for the derby encounter.

The pair had both missed Sunday's win over Ross County with a view of a comeback against rivals Rangers.

The Celtic boss told Sky Sports: “Yeah, Reo hasn't come up, but Aaron's fine.

"So you know from last week really, the only change is Aaron's available, obviously Reo was out last week as well. 

“It is disappointing for Reo more than anything else. He loves playing these games and he's had an impact every time he has, so yeah it is disappointing for him. But we are pleased to get Aaron back.” 

However, Postecoglou hailed his squad strength in depth as he backed his side to cope in Hatate's absence.

He added: “Like I said, you get disappointed for the player because these are the games they want to play in. As a manager, you want everyone available and fit and raring to go.  

“But yeah, from a team perspective, as I said, we've got really good depth and quality in that area and you know we had to sort of cope without Reo and Aaron last week and I thought the lads played well, so you know it's not something new.  

“We've had other games where we’ve had key players missing, but you know from my perspective in terms of the team tomorrow, still very confident in the team we will put out there."

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