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:
9. Leon Balogun - Nigeria
Likely - Towering central defender was a mainstay in the Super Eagles squad until last year. Will be eager to build on his 46 caps to date and a call-up could well be in the offing after his impressive performances domestically this season. | SNS Group
10. Daizen Maeda - Japan
Very likely - Currently in the middle of a predicted six-week injury lay-off but the versatile attacker has been used on plenty of occasion by head coach Hajime Moriyasu, more so than Kyogo, and his inclusion seems inevitable. | Getty Images
11. Oh Hyeon-gyu - South Korea
Very likely - Kyogo's understudy has had plenty of chances to score this term and will feel he should have a greater tally but the striker will definitely be heading off after becoming a regular starter for his country this year. | SNS Group
12. Reo Hatate - Japan
Unlikely - The utility star is expected to miss out and it seems a stretch to suggest he will return to action before the turn of the year. Stepping up his recovery from a long-term hamstring injury at present and will be working incredibly hard to get back on the pitch ASAP. | Getty Images