Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda are expected to be back in action this month.
After facing Feyenoord next week in the Champions League Celtic have five vital SPFL matches to be played before the winter break starts following the away match at St Mirren on January 2.
With Jota sold in the summer the loss of two key wingers from last season’s Treble success has been a big blow with Luis Palma emerging as the main goal threat and creator from the wings.
Abada picked up a muscle injury on international duty at the start of September with Celtic’s run of bad news continuing away to Atletico Madrid when Maeda suffered knee ligament damage while being sent off.
Rehab on both players has advanced onto training on grass with the final stages of recovery being closely monitored against a hectic fixture schedule.
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Liel and Daizen are both on the pitch now which is great news for us. Daizen is a little bit ahead of Liel but I am expecting them both to be available at some point this month.
Competition is sometimes the best coach you can have in the game and that is something you always want.
The players coming back have been important for Celtic and important for me especially Daizen because he has played a lot more.
The competition is important because you need to have that drive but you cannot transfer that.
I have said before that you can create a great environment and have excellent facilities and great coaching but you cannot transport willpower.
Both are back out on the pitch with the medical and rehabilitation team and hopefully it will not be too long till they are back in with the squad again.
With Abada and Maeda close to returning to action it looks highly unlikely that Marco Tilio will be able to add to his brief appearance off the bench against Motherwell.
