Celtic star Daizen Maeda is 'terrible with the ball' and should be replaced for Japan by Hoops teammate Kyogo Furuhashi, according to their country's legend Marcus Tanaka.

Maeda is the only Celtic-based star to be included in Japan's crucial World Cup double-header against North Korea later this month.

Reo Hatate remains injured after appearing for Japan in the Asian Cup and Kyoko continues to be overlooked by his country's boss Hajime Moriyasu.

Maeda scored his first competitive hat-trick for Celtic last week in the Scottish Cup win over Livingston.

But that didn't impress Brazilian-born Japanese defender Tanaka - who played in the 2010 World Cup and won almost 50 caps for his country.

He said: "Daizen Maeda seems to be selected for every squad even if he doesn't do anything special.

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"The most important aspect for any footballer in the world is how they do with the ball at their feet.

"And Meada, along with Takuma Asano of Bochum, are both terrible with the ball.

"It's time to give different players a chance.

"What's going on with Kyogo Furuhashi?

"Japan seems too tough on him, but are Maeda and Asano any good? I'd like to see him in the squad again.

"When you saw how poor they were at the Asian Cup, it makes me think we need to change things.

"For me, we need to reassess the strikers."