Players from Celtic, Hearts, Hibernian, Rangers and St Mirren will travel to either the Asian Cup from January 12 to February 10, or the Africa Cup of Nations from January 13 to February 11; Ayr United also represented at AFCON
Tuesday 9 January 2024 09:54, UK
Scottish clubs will lose a total of 15 players for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and Asian Cup.
Celtic are the hardest hit, with five players selected for international duty including Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda who are in Japan's Asian Cup squad - with Kyogo Furuhashi missing out.
Hyeon-Gyu Oh and Hyun-Jun Yang are in Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea squad, while Marco Tilio - who has made just two appearances under Brendan Rodgers - is in Australia's squad for the tournament.
There is a strong Scottish Premiership representation in Australia's squad with Hearts' Kye Rowles and Nathan Atkinson, plus St Mirren's Keanu Baccus included too.
Hibernian will be missing four players - two of whom are also in Australia's squad with Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller named.
Hibs will also be without Rocky Bushiri who has been selected by DR Congo and Joe Wollacott as he joins up with the Ghana squad.
Rangers will be missing Abdallah Sima, with the in-form forward joining the Senegal squad.
One other SPFL player has been called up, with defender Frankie Musonda of Ayr United being named in the Zambia squad.
Top-flight clubs are not in action from January 3 until January 19 when the Scottish Cup fourth-round kicks off, while Scottish Premiership games resume from January 23.
AFCON runs from January 13 to February 11, while the Asian Cup starts a day before on January 12, running until February 10.
The winter transfer window is now open and will close at 11pm in England and midnight in Scotland on Thursday 1 February, 2024.
To ensure harmonisation with the major leagues in Europe, the closing dates were set following discussions with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, and LFP, who will all close their summer and winter windows on 1 September and 1 February respectively.
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms, while you can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News, including daily transfer shows, and listen to our Transfer Talk podcast.
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