Reo Hatate deals Celtic injury hammer blow as star out until after CHRISTMAS

Reo Hatate has suffered a hammer injury after being ruled out for at least two months by Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

The Japan star limped out of last week’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid with a hamstring injury and Rodgers has now confirmed he won’t feature for the Hoops again until after Christmas at the earliest. The champions are due to travel to Dundee on Boxing Day with a huge derby against Rangers at Parkhead four days later and a trip to St Mirren on January 2 before the Scottish Premiership shutdown.

And Rodgers said: “Reo, I’m not 100 per cent on the exact timings, but he’ll certainly be out until after Christmas we think. So that’s ashame. It’s a disappointment for him. He’s had a bit of a broken start to this season and obviously this year will take him over the halfway point of the league.

“It’s very frustrating for him, especially someone who really commits himself to his game and his professionalism, everything he does he tries to do right. He’s in a great place for that support - coaches, manager, medical team - the whole staff here will support him like we do all the players and hopefully we get him back sooner rather than later.

“He’s a guy who has come into the game late. He’s done fantastic when he’s been fit and available here for Celtic so it’s just a case of trying to look deeper into everything around his development and what he’s doing here just to see if there’s anything we can find out because ideally you want your best players available and he’s certainly one of our top players."

Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can also sign up to