Brendan Rodgers is praying he’ll have Daizen Maeda back on board for the Festive Old Firm showdown. The Celtic boss revealed the attacker is facing up to six weeks out with knee ligament damage – suffered in his controversial red card flashpoint against Atletico Madrid in midweek.
Rodgers was left livid at the VAR decision to send the Japan star packing , which contributed to the Champions League 6-0 battering from the La Liga men.
Maeda’s injury twisted the knife and the running machine is now facing a race against the clock to make the derby encounter on December 30.
Rodgers said: “He’ll hopefully be back for then. I’m pretty sure of you are looking at him that’s he’s a quick healer. We’ll just have to see but at this moment in time, he’s down in London having his assessment.