Brendan Rodgers has explained the 'easy' decision to leave Hayato Inamura out of Celtic's Champions League squad.
The Hoops take on FC Kairat of Kazakhstan in the UCL play-off this week in next, as the Scottish Premiership champions aim to make it to the league phase of the tournament in successive seasons.
Not included in the squad for selection is Inamura, who arrived from the J-League this summer.
"Yeah, very easy," the manager said when asked to elaborate on the decision not to include the new recruit. "He's not quite at the level as of yet that I would expect.
"The plan for Inamura was to come in and train and see where he was at with the possibility of going out on loan because he's only had a year's football.
"He came in as a center half, stroke left back, but his defensive qualities aren't at the level that would see me put him in. So it's as simple as that. So that's why he's not involved.
“He's played in some really good games against Cork and Queen's Park, but the reality is that's the level that you play, you get 80 percent of the ball and you've got the ball.
"But we also need a player that can defend. And we're hoping that over the couple of years with experience and with maybe a loan, that can that that can take place.
"But at this very, very moment, that's why he's not in the squad. It's as simple as that."
