Celtic manager Ronny Deila has promised not to judge Tom Rogic until he returns to full fitness with the the Australian midfielder having been blighted by injury in Scotland.
Rogic joined Celtic in January 2013 after an impressive year with Central Coast Mariners but the highly-rated attacking midfielder has only made 15 senior appearances for the Scottish Premiership club since due to an ongoing groin injury.
The same issue saw him struggle on loan at Melbourne Victory at the end of last season and forced Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou to leave Rogic out of Australia's World Cup squad this year.
But Deila, who took over at Celtic before this season, has assured Rogic he won't give up on him, despite the 21-year-old having been forced under the knife again last month.
"He's had a new operation so it will take time to heal. He'll not be playing again this year," Deila told the Glasgow Evening Times.
"I haven't seen him play so much, we'll need to wait until he's back but that will take some months.
"We've spoken as he's training with us but it's on the pitch I have to see him."
Postecoglou has already confirmed Rogic will be unavailable for the AFC Asian Cup in January of next year and the languid playmaker's career looks to be at a crossroads with the Socceroos boss admitting last month that he isn't thinking too much about the ex-Mariners man anymore.
"We've got to protect ourselves so that when players get injured, we've got other options. To be fair to Tommy, he hasn't been in calculations for quite a while," Postecoglou said.
"We tried to get him up for the World Cup but he hasn't played in the last six or seven games.
"I think the best thing now for him is his rehab, making sure he's fit and to start playing football again. Once he starts playing football again, he'll come under our radar."
At least Deila's declaration will be of some consolation for Rogic, who has a contract with Celtic until June 2017.
The Socceroos will play two matches in the coming week against the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in preparation for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.