Celtic are looking to freshen up their squad to meet Tony Mowbray's expectations and ambitions.

The end of the month sees the end of the opportunity for managers to bolster their squad for four months. The books have to balanced so, for most clubs, this will mean that players will be heading out the exit door before anybody can be welcomes in the front door. Celtic manager Tony Mowbray has already changed the squad he inherited with the additions of Marc-Antoine Fortune, Daniel Fox, Landry N'Guemo, and Josh Thompson. The departures of Shunsuke Nakamura, Bobo Balde, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Paul Hartley, Scott Cuthbert and Joel Perrier Doumbe since the end of the season means that Mowbray still has some flexibility in his transfer dealings. However, Mowbray admits more players will have to leave before he can add to his squad again.

After the 2-1 friendly defeat by Manchester City on Saturday Mowbray said: "We are probably at the other end of the scale to Manchester City. At this moment we want some outs to get some ins. I would like to think there is going to be some movement but we will wait and see. The positive thing about this game was that some of the younger players showed they have the quality to step in and do okay. I know it was only a pre-season game but I was pleased. It was more akin to the Tottenham performance at Wembley rather than the Sunderland one at Parkhead."

Celtic head off to meet Mark McGhee's Aberdeen on Saturday on league business and Mowbray is relishing the start of the new domestic season. He said: "The team are ready for the start of the season. It was pleasing to see so many young players pitting their wits against some pretty expensive signings who are expected to do well in the Premier League this season. There were plenty of positives from our perspective." However, Mowbray is less pleased at the thought of being without so many players on international duty this week as he prepares for the game. He said: "We have nine away next week. Most of them will not be back until 4pm on Thursday, so the first time we will have the team together is the Friday, which is when we travel to Aberdeen. It is not ideal. The reason we left so many out on Saturday was that we have such numbers playing international football next week. We had a tough game in Moscow, then on Saturday, then the international team, then Aberdeen, then Arsenal, then St Johnstone, then Arsenal again, then Hibs. It just keeps coming. It is important to look after your players."
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