Alan Thompson's agent will hold talks with Celtic when the tour party returns from America later this week, in an attempt to resolve the latest problem of a troublesome pre-season for the manager Gordon Strachan.

Thompson flew home to Glasgow on Saturday night after discussions with Strachan, with Celtic saying the midfielder had a thigh strain. That was strongly denied by Thompson's agent Tony McGill, but Strachan said yesterday the club were not trying to force out one of their highest earners.

"I asked him if he'd like to stay here with us or go home, he said he'd like to go home, so we arranged for him to do that straight away. Alan even thanked me for letting him do this. There is not any problem and there has been no falling out," said Strachan.

McGill said Thompson would be happy to stay at Celtic but it appears the former Aston Villa man's days in Scotland are numbered. McGill said: "It is entirely up to Celtic. I've read Gordon Strachan's comments, and Alan wants to stay at Celtic for the final year of his contract. The ball is firmly in Celtic's court, but they seem to be making the player out to be the bad guy here."

Pressed on why the club had sent the player home while claiming he was injured, McGill added: "You can work that one out for yourself."

Celtic have failed to register a goal during their trips to America and Poland, and have suffered defeat in three of their four games. With matches against Everton, Manchester United and Chelsea to come, along with a lucrative friendly in Japan, Thompson had earlier criticised pre-season arrangements.

Stilian Petrov, who aired his doubts over the club's readiness to defend their league title last week, is also growing increasingly agitated at Celtic's unwillingness to sell him given the Bulgarian handed in a transfer request before the end of last season. Portsmouth are leading the chase for the £5 million-rated midfielder and it is understood Celtic have told the player he can leave, but Petrov's party are becoming frustrated.