'A bad one' - Celtic suffer major Reo Hatate blow as extent of hamstring injury revealed

Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate has been ruled out for a number of weeks with the hamstring injury that forced him into an early exit from the midweek clash with Atletico Madrid.

Celtic's Reo Hatate goes down injured during the Champions League match against Atletico Madrid. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The Japanese international last just seven minutes of Wednesday's Champions League clash at Celtic Park, which finished 2-2, and was visibly distraught as he hobbled off the pitch to be replaced by Paulo Bernando.

The 25-year-old has already missed a chunk of the season having only recently recovered from another hamstring injury picked up against Aberdeen in August and is now set for another frustrating spell on the sidelines.

Speaking ahead of Celtic's trip to Easter Road to face Hibs on Saturday, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers described Hatate's injury as a "bad one" and confirmed that the playmaker will be unavailable for an indeterminate period of time.

"Not a definite timeline but he’ll definitely be out for a few weeks,” he said. “We’re just waiting for it to settle down and waiting for the result and we’ll see where he’s at. It looked quite a bad one.

"If you watch the game, in the first 35 seconds he’s overstretched and he’s felt it very early on. It’s such a shame for him. He was out with his hamstring last year, it’s his other one this time, so we just need to get to the bottom of it.”