NafisaBrendan Rodgers has confirmed Reo Hatate will be ABSENT for next weekend’s Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen.
The Japanese midfielder was left grounded near the conclusion of Celtic’s 5-1 thrashing at Pittodrie after being taken out by Pape Gueye.
Rodgers accused the Aberdeen forward of losing control as Hatate was seen hobbling with an ice pack wrapped around his knee at the final whistle.
And now, the 27-year-old has been ruled out for Trophy Day and next weekend’s Hampden showdown.
Rodgers – who confirmed Cameron Carter-Vickers will return to the squad for Saturday’s final league fixture at home to St Mirren – said: “He’ll miss the last two games, sadly for him and for us.
“He’s had a fantastic season in terms of availability. It’s 55 games he’s been involved in and it’s just such a shame he’ll miss these last couple of games.
“You are probably talking that he’ll be okay for the beginning of pre-season but it’s just a shame for us and even more so for him that he misses these two games.
“I said at the time, I thought it was a needless challenge. Everyone knew it was a free-kick and he’s just there to stop the ball from running away. For that to happen in those circumstances, it’s not nice.”
While Hatate’s setback will be a huge disappointment for the Treble hopefuls, Rodgers hopes the champions can wrap up the league campaign on a positive note as they prepare to toast a fourth consecutive title.
He said: “It’s a great reward for the sacrifice for so many people have put in, especially the players over the course of the season.”You get that at the end of the game but the actual game, we still have targets that we want to achieve.
“It should be an amazing day, the weather has been incredible up here. We want to perform, we know it’s a tough game.”We played St Mirren at the end of last season as well and only won right at the end. For this game here, we’ve got a real focus to continue with our performance level that we did the other night, so let’s see where it takes us in the end.”
Nafisa
