"It's borderline whether or not I play against Milan," admitted the free-kick specialist. "I want to play, not just because it's Milan and the Champions League, but also to get back playing and to help my team get their first points in the competition.

"I haven't kicked a ball since the injury or trained with my team-mates. The Milan game will be a hard game, especially coming back from an injury, so we will have to wait and see how I am next Wednesday."

On Celtic's challenge, the Japan international insisted to uefa.com: "We managed to beat Manchester United here last year and we need a similar performance against AC Milan to get anything from the game.