CELTIC TITLE BOOST WITH MAEDA SET TO RETURN TO ACTION NEXT WEEK

Japanese international's season looked to be over after hamstring injury
Now 26-year-old will return to training in time for crunch clashes in title race

Daizen Maeda is set to hand Celtic an injury boost during the title run in by making a shock return to action next week.

The Japanese international’s season looked over when he sustained a hamstring injury after the 3-3 draw against Rangers earlier this month.

However, speaking at a question and answer event at Parkhead in midweek, manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that Maeda is making huge strides with his recovery.

Back in light training, Sunday’s Premiership trip to face Dundee at Dens Park will come too soon.

The 26-year-old is expected to rejoin team-mates next week, though, and he could be fit for the crunch home games against Hearts on Saturday, May 4, and Rangers on Saturday, May 11.

Maeda opened the scoring in the draw at Ibrox on April 7, and his prospects of playing again this season looked bleak when Rodgers said at the time: ‘I’m not sure we’ll see Daizen again this season, I don’t expect him to feature too much. It’s such a small window now.’

Now, after a series of check-ups and scans, the wide man has confounded medical expectations with a potentially quicker than expected return to action.

His energy and pace will be valuable assets for Celtic in their quest to win a league and Scottish Cup double.

2024-04-25T14:14:25Z dg43tfdfdgfd