Celtic facing injury sweat over three first-team players for hectic October schedule

Daizen Maeda, left, and David Turnbull, right, have picked up injuries on international duty and could be unavailable for Celtic.

The Scottish champions play nine matches next month – five in the cinch Premiership, three in the Champions League and one in the Premier Sports Cup – because of the congested nature of the football calendar this season due to the November World Cup.

The glut of fixtures is set to test the depth of Postecoglou’s squad, but the Celtic boss will be keeping his fingers crossed that injuries to Daizen Maeda, Giorgios Giakoumakis and David Turnbull suffered on international duty are not serious.

Midfielder Turnbull left the Scotland camp last week and is back at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base receiving treatment, while forward Maeda missed Japan’s final preparation session ahead of their friendly against Ecuador on Tuesday due to a leg injury. He picked up the knock against the USA last week and is not expected to take part in the match in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Celtic's Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis also has an injury concern with his thigh.

Postecoglou, who has spent the international break back in his homeland of Australia, already had concerns in the attacking area of his squad after Giakoumakis was put on an individual training regime by Greece manager Gus Poyet due to a thigh injury. He has since had a scan to determine the extent of the issue and is a major doubt for the match against Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening.

Celtic return to action on Saturday when they host Motherwell in the cinch Premiership, with Kyogo Furuhashi potentially the club’s only fit senior player who is able to play as a No 9.