Reo Hatate will have benefitted from his 45 minutes of friendly action against St Mirren yesterday afternoon, but Livingston might be a step too far for the returning from injury Japanese star…
It was much welcome news to learn that Reo Hatate was back on the football field once again in a bounce game against St Mirren yesterday. The Japanese midfielder got 45 minutes playing time in an effort to boost his fitness for the title run in.
It’s vital Reo gets some minutes under his belt especially before the vital clash at Ibrox in a couple of weeks time. However playing in a competitive match and a bounce match are two different things and Reo will need to get back into the real action to maximise his fitness.
The only stumbling block is that our next match is away at Livingston on Easter Sunday. Not only is their pitch a significant hindrance, but David Martindale’s relegation threatened (to say the least) side can be a bunch of hammer throwers and Hatate would be an easy target for some rough treatment.
Even an appearance from the bench would be a risk in my opinion, but Reo does need the minutes so it’s a bit of a Catch 22 situation for Brendan Rodgers and his coaching staff.
Reo Hatate is a vital player for us and we could do with him at Ibrox, but it would be a big ask throwing him into a game of that magnitude with very little playing time. And you can be sure that he’ll get his injury tested there too by a few hefty challenges in the early stages that will avoid yellow cards.
Maybe Brendan will give him a small cameo at Livingston in a bid to boost his fitness, but I still think it’s a bit of a risk especially with more vital games on the horizon. Yet they are only vital IF we win at Livingston so that is by and away the most vital game at the moment and the only one we should be thinking about.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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