Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has defended the standard of the Scottish Premiership after Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate were left out of the Japan squad.
Both players were again left out for upcoming friendlies and head coach Hajime Moriyasu was quoted as saying he had taken the level of the league into account along with his desire to try out other players.
Celtic attacker Daizen Maeda has been selected for Japan's games against Colombia and Uruguay after scoring in the World Cup finals but Hatate and Furuhashi have been among the club's star men in recent months.
Furuhashi has already scored 26 goals this season while Hatate has stepped up his scoring and assist rate since the mid-season break.
When asked about their exclusions and whether Moriyasu's comments were disrespectful, Postecoglou said: "Both boys are playing really well and it's disappointing for them that they haven't been selected, but that's the nature of international football. It comes down to the national team manager's decisions.
"In terms of disrespectful, it's one person's opinion. I'm not really sure we should make too many far-reaching conclusions
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