Celtic duo Oh and Yang to miss Premiership games after being called up to South Korea Asian Cup squad

Celtic duo Oh Hyeong-yu and Yang Hyun-jun have been called up to the South Korea squad for next month’s Asian Cup in Qatar.

Manager Jurgen Klinsmann has included the pair in his 26-man squad for the tournament, which he believes the side can win.

Klinsmann’s squad includes stars such as Tottenham’s Son Hueng-min, Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and Wolves forward Hwang Hee-Chan and the German manager says it’s time the nation ended their long wait for a trophy.

“It’s all about timing now and I think we are ready for this big, big competition,” he said when unveiling his squad.

“It’s 64 years – 64 years is a long time for Korea. It’s about time that we get this done.

“I have a good feeling because they’re doing well at their clubs,” he said.

“They’re healthy, they’re fit, they’re ambitious and they’re very hungry. This is the foundation for playing a good tournament.”

The call-ups mean both players will miss games for Celtic as the champions continue their defence of the Premiership trophy and Scottish Cup.

South Korea face Bahrain, Jordan and Malaysia in the group stage in Qatar, meaning they will be unavailable for the Scottish Cup tie against Buckie Thistle and the home league match against Ross County.

However, South Korea are among the favourites to win the cup and if they go deep into the competition they could be in action right through until the final on February 10.

That would see them miss further club games away against Aberdeen and Hibernian.

Marco Tilio, who has only played 27 minutes of football for Celtic, has been called up to the Australia squad for the tournament but the champions are likely to face further selection headaches when the Japan squad is named.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate are all in contention for a call-up and the inclusion of all three would deprive manager Brendan Rodgers of key players after the winter break.

Rodgers has previously ruled out any possibility of Celtic asking for games to be postponed but hinted that the expected absences have been planned for ahead of the January transfer window.