GLASGOW (AFP) - Shunsuke Nakamura is set to return to action for Celtic after a knee problem in this weekend's Scottish Cup tie against Stirling Albion just at the moment when the Glasgow giants are poised to sign fellow Japanese player Koki Mizuno.

The 22-year-old Mizuno, a midfielder with J-League side JEF United, has been granted a work permit and Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said Friday: "I don't think there is any real stumbling block (with Mizuno).

"We have a work permit and he wants to be here. I think it's a case of tying it up. His contract finishes at the end of January so I think Peter (Lawwell, Celtic's chief executive) is tying up the loose ends with his club.

"He (Koki) is just a pure footballer. Naka added a physical presence to his game when he came here and when you add that to his skill, you have Scotland's player of the year last year," Strachan explained.

The former Scotland midfielder added that Celtic, two points behind leaders and arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premier League, had been a poorer side since Nakamura sustained a knee ligament injury in October.

"We have missed him for the last two or three months but he is coming back now and if he (Koki) is half as good as Naka then we will have another cracking player," Strachan said.

He added that Germany international Andreas Hinkel, the 25-year-old right back signed last week from Spanish side Sevilla, would make his Celtic debut against Stirling.

Hinkel's arrival means Gary Caldwell no longer has to play in an unfamiliar position and Strachan said: "Andreas has been excellent in training and to begin with he is a natural right-back. He is a German international at 25 so he is no mug.

"He gives us composure, strength and likes to defend as well as go forward. So we feel we have a good capture but only time will tell," Strachan, who played under Scottish managerial great Sir Alex Ferguson both at Aberdeen and Manchester United, added.

"I think Gary Caldwell could easily be the happiest person in Scotland that Hinkel has signed," Strachan joked before, on a more serious note, continuing: "But if everybody had the same guts and mental strength as Gary Caldwell then football is not a problem.

"He has played out of position and done everything I wanted him to do. Gary is a centre-half, we know that and I told him when he went to right-back that he would never be judged at right-back.

"He did us a right good favour. He was fully committed. Sometimes he was too committed charging up the wing and helping other players to win games or retrieve games, so he can be really proud of what he has done."

A special work permit exception appears to have been granted by British government officials to Mizuno.

Normally, a player from a non-European Union country needs to have played at least 75 percent of his country's international matches in the previous two years to acquire a work permit.

But Mizuno, who has helped Japan's under-23 squad win a berth in August's Beijing Olympics, only made his full international debut in a friendly against Peru last March.