There have been questions raised over the possible further postponement of the already rescheduled Glasgow Derby between Celtic and the Rangers, which is currently set to be played on February 2. The possibility arises due to several stars in both teams potentially being unavailable due to international call ups.

Normally an international break means league games aren’t scheduled for when important matches are taking place between national teams. But World Cup Qualifiers and the Africa Cup of Nations could all have an impact on available players this time around.

Tom Rogic for Australia, Kyogo Furuhashi for Japan, Joe Aribo for Nigeria and Scott Arfield for Canada are the players who could be affected, alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers for the United States. But with the Japanese trio of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi arriving at Parkhead, the Hoops could be missing several key players for the hugely important Glasgow clash.

For the Rangers, players such as Alfredo Morales, Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun could be impacted too. Thus, there is a possibility that either club could request a further postponement, if three or more of their players are away on international duty.

Postecoglou gives Celtic Glasgow Derby update

Ange Postecoglou’s recent comments might suggest though that Celtic are ready to play on even if a number of their key players are away. As reported by Football Scotland, the manager said:

“This has been in our planning for a while now. We’ve known that they are going to be away in that period if they get selected.

“And I totally understand that whatever fixtures we have at that time, they’re likely to miss out.

“They are World Cup games so there are no negotiations. Both countries have important qualifiers and the World Cup is important to every country, irrespective of where you come from.

“We are obliged to release the players and we will.”

That may well be Postecoglou reflecting only on the need to release players for their international team rather than considering a potential postponement of the match. There may yet be further discussions in Glasgow boardrooms when the true picture becomes clearer regarding the call ups.

It remains to be seen how things unfold and only time will tell whether the Glasgow Derby goes ahead as planned or not. One can only hope that Celtic have their best players available on the day.

This article was originally posted here