Postecoglou’s worrying Kyogo Update: “It’s fair to say he hasn’t recovered”

Ange Postecoglou admitted that Kyogo has NOT recovered from his troublesome hamstring injury and is likely to miss at least the next couple of weeks, with The Celtic talisman a major doubt for the Glasgow Derby on 2 February. What’s already known is that Japan will not be calling Kyogo up for their vital World Cup qualifiers in a few weeks time as they have already been informed by Celtic on Kyogo’s fitness status.

It’s fair to say that the earliest that we’ll see Kyogo back playing is that game against theRangers but even that is probably over optimistic at this stage. He did make sure that he was there for the League Cup Final against Hibs last month did he not?

19th December 2021; Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish League Cup final, Hibernian versus Celtic: Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic roars in celebration at putting Celtic level 1-1 in the 52nd minute

“Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather that Kyogo was available and playing. He has been outstanding, he has been a star and I would much rather have him in the team. But the whole idea going into the January window was we needed a stronger squad,” Ange Postecoglou said to the media last night, as reported by Scottish Sun, after the 2-0 win over Hibs at Celtic Park.

“I thought at the back end of the first half of the season we did really well but we were running on fumes. There were a lot of players we kept putting out there who were just not 100 percent.

“We kind of got ourselves through that, but we couldn’t do that again. Hopefully getting the new guys in and also getting guys back from injury will enable us now to rotate the squad and that is going to be important to us.”

Ange Postecoglou gives his verdict after Celtic beat Hibs 2-0 and was pleased with the the debuts of Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate…💭 pic.twitter.com/UnRH79hXMF

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) January 17, 2022

Two of the Hogmanay signings from the J-League started last night and all three got some game time, much to the delight of the near 60,000 Celtic supporters who had Paradise rocking. Daizen Maeda got off to a flying start scoring on his debut after only four minutes while midfielder Reo Hatate was named man of the match by the sponsors and few could argue with that assessment. Both players look like outstanding additions to The Celtic team.

“Reo did well but he will want more as that’s the kind of character and personality he is,” Ange said. “He doesn’t just want to enjoy the ride, he has some sights and ambition to be the best player he can be and reach the top. You saw some of his quality tonight, but there is definitely more to come. From all the boys.”

Josip Juranovic of Celtic celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC at on January 17, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)Collu

Postecoglou gave a somewhat worrying update on Kyogo’s injury: “It’s fair to say he hasn’t recovered. We’re still getting some advice on it. He’s not likely to feature in the next couple of weeks at least, it could be longer.

“In terms of definite time frames, we’re just getting some more info and hopefully during the week we’ll know a little bit more.”

Ange was then asked if Kyogo will be ready for the visit of theRangers on 2 February and that prompted a ‘mate’ response, never a good moment for the hacks! “Mate, you’re talking about a game that’s four or five away from us. Anything past tonight is no real concern to me,” The Celtic manager replied.