The Asian Cup in the New Year is going to give Brendan Rodgers a headache with half of his squad likely to be heading to Qatar.

But perhaps the Celtic boss should take a leaf out of Ally McCoist’s book. After all, didn’t he get a game postponed against Forfar back in the day when he had a couple of guys on international duty? Maybe it’s something Rodgers will need to look at as the likes of Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, Oh Hyeon-gyu, Yang and Reo Hatate – if he’s fit – could all be summoned by Japan and Korea, leaving Celtic seriously short for important matches against Aberdeen, Hibs and Ross County.

Joking aside, Rodgers won’t want to be sitting out three rounds of fixtures at such a crucial part of the season as points in the bag are more important than games in hand. But the Asia Cup does give him a headache. I’ve seen fans talking about signups as cover – but you can’t sign players for just three matches.

There’s a clamour for another striker if Kyogo and Oh are away – along with Maeda – it leaves Celtic with a huge hole up front. But are they going to splash the cash to bring in someone who is going to play second fiddle to Kyogo and perhaps hinder the development of Oh? I doubt it.

Some people have chucked Lawrence Shankland’s name into the frame. Forget about it. There are enough people trying to hawk him to Rangers and it remains to be seen if they can even afford the Hearts striker.

Celtic can afford him – but he just doesn’t fit the bill. That’s not to say I don’t rate him as a player. It’s got nothing to do with his apparent allegiances either.

He would probably score goals for Celtic. But are they going to spend maybe £3m or £4m on a 28-year-old back up? Highly unlikely.

Shankland needs to be playing every week to have a chance of being part of the Scotland squad at the Euros and there’s no guarantee he’d get that at Celtic. Meanwhile Oh has shown some real signs of potential at the club and you’d think he’d get more opportunities in the hectic run up to the winter shutdown.

I like his attitude. He’s not had much game time this season but has kept working away and waiting for his chance. In recent weeks he has grabbed it. There’s still a lot of polish required but there’s definitely a player there – and there will have to be.

Celtic are going to need all hands to the pump during an intensive period and there is no doubt they are already stretched. It’s a bloated squad that’s slightly thin on quality.

The positives are that Luis Palma is showing real promise. The jury is still out despite superb numbers in terms of goals and assets. He’s got seven goals and eight assists in just 18 appearances – including setting up three against Aberdeen and scoring one himself.

There are wide players who don’t produce those stats over an entire season. It’s tough for him as he has big boots to fill as Jota’s apparent replacement.

But he doesn’t look overawed by the challenge. He’s certainly got a deadly right foot, but the good thing about Palma is that he’s learning all the time. He was hitting the byline against Aberdeen and mixing up his game. His cross for Oh’s goal with the outside of his right boot was a touch of class and brought back memories of Lubo Moravcik.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s got a long way to go to get to Lubo’s level but I do think there’s more to come from him – and the same can be said about Yang. We knew he could dribble but he’s starting to produce an end product and no doubt Rodgers is working on him.

He’s got great feet and tremendous pace. Now he’s starting to play with his head up, he’s got the ability to cause defenders real problems.

Those two are going to have to do the business in the coming weeks with Maeda and Abada out.

Hatate is a huge miss as well. He could be absent until well after the New Year and that is an area of the pitch Rodgers is going to have to address in January.

I know he’s talked about players leaving rather than coming in but I feel the midfield could do with strengthening.

We know Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley are nailed down. But who is the other first choice midfielder? David Turnbull, Paulo Bernardo and Odin Thiago Holm have all been given opportunities but it’s hard to say who is out in front right now.

Turnbull has weighed in with goals – as he always does – and that might give him the edge. I’m just not sure if he’s the long term solution. He is out of contract in the summer and a new deal has yet to be signed. It’s understandable he’ll want to wait and see how much of a part he’ll be playing at the club and at least that should make him hungry to make an impact.

The next few weeks are going to be so crucial with the games coming thick and fast. Philippe Clement has made a big impact across the city and I must admit I’ve liked the cut of his jib.

There’s no nonsense and he’s got Rangers functioning again. Celtic can’t afford to assume their rivals are going to spill points regularly like before. The Asian Cup will give Rodgers another problem – but he’s got plenty of hurdles to negotiate before then.