Ange Postecoglou has refused to put a timeframe on David Turnbull and Kyogo Furuhashi returning from injury - but he expects the Scotland midfielder back first.
Neither of the key duo have kicked a ball since before the winter shutdown as both picked up hamstring injuries in December.
Turnbull was first out as he went off 20 minutes into Celtic 's Premier Sports Cup final injury against Hibs.
And that was followed by another blow on Boxing Day as top scorer Kyogo lasted just 15 minutes against Ross County before limping off.
The injuries haven't hampered Celtic as badly as they would have previously with new signings and returning players elsewhere providing cover. But fans remain eager to see two of the stars from the first half of the season back in action.
Postecoglou named both of them in his Europa Conference League squad ahead of their double-header with Bodo/Glimt and many took that as a hint they are not far away.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's trip to Aberdeen, the boss once again refused to pin either down to a date.
But he did admit Kyogo is likely to be "two or three weeks" behind Turnbull.
"If they're fit and available, they'll be in the squad," he said.
"Dave is closer because his injury happened before Kyogo. So he's probably two or three weeks ahead of Kyogo.
"I haven't put timescales on it as I could end up being wildly out.
"They're both working hard, but I expect to see Dave before Kyogo.
"In terms of the European squad, they're both in it because hopefully they'll be available at some time for us."
