Kyogo took one for the team on Boxing Day at McDiarmid Park turning out for an injury hit Celtic side looking to get the the winter break without dropping points against St Johnstone. Celtic’s Japanese talisman paid a heavy price for his bravery that day and he’d been missing for just over three months recovering from his hamstring tear.
On Thursday at his media conference Ange Postecoglou revealed that Kyogo was now fully fit and was available for selection for the Glasgow Derby at Ibrox yesterday afternoon. Few expected him to start but many believed that the mere presence of the best player in Scottish football on the bench could have spooked theRangers so expected Kyogo to be named on the very strong Celtic bench.
When the team was announced at around 10.45am yesterday morning eyebrows were being raised in the Celtic Support at the mysterious absence of a fully fit Kyogo with some fearing another injury set-back.
That though is not the case as Ange Postecoglou explained in his interview with BBC Sportsound.
The Celtic manager was asked if Kyogo would be fit to play on Saturday against St Johnstone? “Yes he’ll be fine,” Ange replied. “He was desperate to play today but when I look at our run-in we’ve got some massive games. He’s such an important player for us and I thought today we could handle it without him.
“To be fair he tried everything. Everywhere I turned he popped up in front of me to make sure I knew he was ready to go. I couldn’t walk around Lennoxtown without seeing him. But we’ll keep him on ice. He’s ready to go, he’ll be fine and he’ll be involved next week.”
