ANGE POSTECOGLOU says that Celtic may join clubs in England in refusing to release players for international breaks if they are set to travel to countries on the UK’s red list.

A statement from the Premier League yesterday said that up to 60 players would not be released by their clubs for next week's international fixtures in defiance of FIFA, due to the lack of exemptions for players returning from red-zone nations.

In Celtic’s case, it is believed that Ismaila Soro will be the only player affected on this occasion, with the midfielder set to be called up by the Ivory Coast to play in Mozambique next week, but Postecoglou says he doesn’t think it would be wise to allow him to travel if he has to quarantine upon his return to Scotland.

“We’ll definitely have a look at it,” Postecoglou said.

“At the moment, I haven’t seen that Soro has been selected in the squad, but we are all aware of the situation, same as other clubs.

“It is also about players and their health and wellbeing as well with these travel commitments, and we’ll see with any players who are affected and work through the process.

“My view is that the way the world is currently, I don’t think it’s the wisest thing to send them off into areas where there are potentially going to be some issues for the players. But we’ll deal with that on a case by case basis.

“It’s not about club and country. It’s about the players, more importantly.

“We’ve seen that Covid is still a prevalent issue in society and I think with all of these decisions, you just have to talk your way through them and come to the best decision for the player.”

Meanwhile, Postecoglou has revealed that James Forrest and James McCarthy did not travel with the rest of his squad as they flew to The Netherlands yesterday for the second leg of their Europa League play-off against AZ Alkmaar.

“They are still not 100 percent,” he said. “I think both potentially [will be fit] for the weekend.

“Josip (Juranovic) is in and can’t play in this game, but he’ll be available for the weekend as well which is good because we’ll probably need some fresh legs for the game.”