Celtic and Rangers could lose a host of first-team players to international duty with the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations scheduled to kick-off in January next year.
The Hoops are set to be affected most, with as many as EIGHT stars under consideration for a call-up by their respective national teams, while the Gers are sweating over the availability of three players.
The Asian Cup tournament, involving Japan and South Korea, begins in Qatar on Friday, 12th January and runs until Saturday, 10th February. It means Brendan Rodgers will have to plan for life without the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Oh Hyeon-gyu for a period of time.
To make matters worse for Rodgers, it has been reported by Sponichi that Japan are also planning for an Asian Cup warm-up match to be played on New Year's Day - just 48 hours after Celtic face their arch rivals in the Scottish Premiership.
Meanwhile, the re-scheduled AFCON tournament was supposed to be held in the summer but was moved to early next year due to adverse weather conditions in the Ivory Coast. Rangers currently have a trio of players who could be involved, meaning Philippe Clement could be without some key options for domestic action.
GlasgowWorld has compiled a list of 11 players that could be unavailable to Celtic and Rangers for a matter of weeks. We rate how likely they are to be called up by their respective nations:
1. 11 players Celtic and Rangers could be without in January for ASCON and Asian Cup
11 players Celtic and Rangers could be without in January for AFCON and Asian Cup
2. Kyogo Furuhashi - Japan
Very likely - Despite failing to fire on all cylinders this season, the Hoops talisman will be on the plane.
3. Abdallah Sima - Senegal
Unlikely - Has represented his country on four occasions since 2021, featuring twice in the Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign and then in World Cup qualifying. However, he has been overlooked in recent years and that seems likely to continue unless he can force his way back into head coach Aliou Cissé's plans.
4. Yang Hyun-Jun - South Korea
Possibly - The winger has been capped just once in a friendly against Wales earlier this year but is clearly in the manager's thoughts having recently broken into the senior squad.