Celtic could lose a host of first-team players to international duty with the Asian Cup scheduled to kick-off in January next year.

Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate could all be selected for their national team, Japan, to compete in the tournament between January 12 and February 10.

It means the key trio could miss domestic action for Celtic due to competing in the tournament in Qatar.

And things get even more complicated for Brendan Rodgers with South Korea stars Oh, Yang and Kwon all possible candidates to make their national team squad.

It could mean as many as six Celtic players ruled out of domestic action for up to three league matches and two Scottish Cup fixtures.

READ MORE: Green Brigade urge Celtic fans to join Palestine flag display

Further to that, it's reported by Sponichi that Japan are planning for an Asian Cup warm-up match to be played on New Year's Day.

That would come just two days after Celtic take on Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

The report does namecheck Premier League players Wataru Endo and Takehiro Tomiyasu as players who could miss the friendly to play for their club before later joining the squad.

And it could be a similar situation for Celtic's Asian cohort with Rodgers no doubt keen to keep key players for the derby fixture before being forced to release them for Asian Cup duty.

Celtic matches during Asian Cup tournament

Scottish Cup fourth round - January 20

Celtic vs Ross County - January 27 - Scottish Premiership

Aberdeen vs Celtic - February 3 - Scottish Premiership

Hibs vs Celtic - February 7 - Scottish Premiership

Scottish Cup fifth round - February 10