Reo Hatate has revealed how his international snub for Japan ahead of the World Cup has helped to fuel his impressive form for Celtic.

The midfielder was left out in a devastating blow as his country headed to Qatar to compete in the tournament, ultimately reaching the last 16 stage.

Hatate has not allowed for the snub to impact him though and instead he has used it as fuel to perform at his best for Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.

He told The Sun: “I have now faced my feelings about the World Cup in Qatar.

"On the day that the Japanese squad was announced, I was still in Scotland and could not see it live.

“Prior to that, I thought I wouldn’t be selected because I did not get a chance to participate in the last game before the  announcement.

“However, when the members were announced and my name wasn’t there, I didn’t think, ‘As expected’.

“It was frustrating and when I returned to Japan after Celtic gave me time off, I didn’t watch our group games live.

“I did that to rest my body, as I had been playing a lot since July last year.

“But now that I’ve sorted out my feelings, looking back, I think that the reason I was tired was only half of it.

“The other half was frustration and I couldn’t honestly watch the games.

"As time passed, I was able to sort out my feelings, and I felt I had to watch Japan’s games."

He continued: “So when I got back to Glasgow, I reviewed all of the three group stage games again.  

“Then I watched the Japan-Croatia match in the round of 16 live.

"I saw my former Kawasaki team-mate Kaoru Mitoma show his characteristics.

“The person I respected even more was Shogo Taniguchi, who prepared himself in the best possible way.

“He is a person who didn’t cut corners on post-match recovery, and always did what he was supposed to do.

“It’s easy to say that’s easy, but it’s never easy to do the obvious things, including preparation and care.

“Like Kaoru, he has always been careful with his diet and worked hard.

“When I saw Shogo on the pitch at the World Cup, I was reminded of the fact that if you can do everything you can, the accumulation of that leads to opportunities.

“As a result, there were many things I felt and learned from the Japan matches and I am using them now.”