How Celtic and Rangers players fared during latest international break ahead of Scottish Premiership return

Scottish Premiership stars have been returning to their respective clubs over the past few days ahead of the domestic season resumption this weekend.

Following the latest international break, a host of Rangers and Celtic players have been racking up the air miles with their national teams.

Here, we take a look at how all of the Old firm stars fared during their time away with their countries:

Scotland are firmly back in contention for a World Cup spot after Lyndon Dykes’ penalty sealed a vital 1-0 victory over Austria in Vienna on Tuesday night. Rangers defender Nathan Patterson was a notable absentee from the matchday squad after withdrawing just 24 hours on from making his debut against Moldova.

However, Celtic skipper Callum McGregor was recalled to the starting line-up and he appeared to form a strong midfield partnership with youngster Billy Gilmour.

Also in Scotland’s group, Celtic pair Nir Bitton and Liel Abada were both unused substitutes as Israel crashed to a heavy 5-0 defeat in Denmark.

Bitton, in particular, will have been disappointed to lose his place in Willibald Ruttensteiner’s side after providing an assist in their surprise 5-2 demolition of the Austrians last Saturday.

Elsewhere across Europe, Gers defender Borna Barisic and new Hoops signing Josip Juranovic put club rivalry aside to help Croatia collect seven points from three qualifying games.

The Croats sit top of Group H with 13 points after building on a 0-0 draw against Russia with victories over Slovakia and Slovenia.

Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara returned from his weekend suspension against Kazakhstan by playing the full 90 minutes in Finland’s 2-0 defeat to Group D leaders France.

The world champions are yet to suffer defeat and have stretched seven points clear of the Finns and Ukraine, who will likely battle it out for second place.

Gers’ defender Filip Helander sustained a knock during Sweden’s impressive 2-1 win over Spain at the weekend but recovered in time to face Greece. The towering centre-back was said to have been training separately from Janne Anderson’s squad as he looked to prove hit fitness, while Ianis Hagi’s time with Romania was cut short after he tested positive for Coronavirus.

Celtic’s recent signing Liam Scales was a late call-up to the Republic of. Ireland squad ahead of their must-win clash with Serbia, but the defender watched on from the bench as Stephen Kenny’s team drew 1-1, leaving the Irish without a win from five qualifying games and their Qatar 2022 hopes all but over.

Finally, new Hoops sensation Kyogo Furuhashi limped off with a knee injury during the second half as Japan beat China in a World Cup qualifier.