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Japan midfielder Hatate out of Scottish Cup final / Photo: Paul ELLIS - AFP
Japan midfielder Hatate out of Scottish Cup final
Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate will miss next weekend's Scottish Cup final after suffering a knee injury, manager Brendan Rodgers said Friday.
The Japan international was hurt in the closing stages of Premiership champions Celtic's 5-1 win at Aberdeen on Wednesday and will not recover in time to face the Dons at Hampden Park on May 24.
"He (Hatate) will miss the last two games, sadly for him and for us," said Rodgers. "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're probably looking that he'll be OK for the beginning of pre-season, but it's just a shame for us, even more so for him, that he misses these two games."
Substitute Hatate, 27, was injured in a strong challenge by Pape Habib Gueye as the Celtic midfielder looked to stop the ball in anticipation of a free-kick for the Aberdeen forward's push on James Forrest.
"I said at the time I thought it was a needless challenge," said Rodgers. "Everyone knew it was a free-kick. He's just there to stop the ball from running away.
"For that to happen in that circumstance, it's not nice."
Rodgers confirmed Celtic would have Cameron Carter-Vickers back from injury for their final game of the Premiership season against St Mirren on Saturday.
D.Ricci--INP
