Daizen and Liel back in training is the very welcome news coming out of Lennoxtown this afternoon after Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media ahead of Wednesday night’s Scottish Premiership match against Hibs at Celtic Park…

Brendan Rodgers today confirmed that both Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada are back in first team training. It’s been evident to see that both have been missed in their absence from the side.

Daizen of course was injured in the early stages of the defeat against Atletico Madrid last month, and Liel hasn’t played since the Glasgow Derby win over theRangers back in September after picking up an injury while away on international duty.

Liel Abada Celtic, JULY 19, 2023 – Football / Soccer : Friendly match between Yokohama F.Marinos 6-4 Celtic FC at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa, Japan.

Daizen gets some stick, but I think even his critics amongst the support can agree we’ve missed his industry on the flanks. Liel has arguably been a bigger miss. The Israeli is a superb player and is capable of moments of brilliance and pops up with important goals, and we’ve missed that badly.

No time-scale has been put on their return by the manager but I would imagine we could most likely see them before Christmas and that would be very welcoming news with the congested festive fixture list. There is also of course the important matter of a Glasgow Derby at the end of the month too and both players certainly enjoy playing against theRangers.

Both Maeda and Abada have had vital says in the outcome of a quite few Glasgow Derby matches n their time at the club. Let’s hope they are fighting fit come 30 December.

Maik Nawrocki during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Celtic at Pittodrie on 13 August 2023. Photo Stephen Dobson PSI

Brendan Rodgers also spoke about some of the club’s summer signings today saying that Marco Tilio only made the squad against Motherwell because of injuries – James Forrest sat that one out – and all that both Maik Nawrocki and Gustav Lagerbielke need to show why they should be in squads in training.

Gustaf Lagerbielke of Celtic FC during the UEFA Champions League match between Feyenoord and Celtic FC at Feyenoord Stadion de Kuip on September 19, 2023 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo VI ANP Sport Jeroen Putmans

That’s three players signed in the summer for around £10m and none are currently showing the manager that they merit a place on his bench! And when you consider that Nat Phillips, a short-term loan signing from Liverpool who is set to head back to Anfield in January, yet is making the match-day squads at the moment, then it shows that both the Polish and Swedish summer signings have plenty of work to do to convince the manager that they are good enough to play.

More to follow on Brendan’s media conference shortly.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy