Brendan Rodgers has backed Daizen Maeda to start for Celtic ahead of their Scottish Premiership showdown against Hibernian on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old has had a stop-start season because of injuries and then he was called up by Japan for the Asian Cup.
But Brendan Rodgers has shared that the international trip has put Daizen Maeda in a ‘better place’ and now he is ‘ready’ to start if called upon, as he told his pre-match press conference.
Celtic dropped valuable points away at Aberdeen at the weekend – the Dons have since appointed Neil Warnock and he commented on the Bhoys.
The arrival of the legendary English coach certainly adds spice to proceedings in Scotland, with Neil Warnock narrowly losing his debut game at Rangers on Tuesday night.
That now means Rangers are level on points with Celtic at the top of the table, so the heat is just turned up a little bit more ahead of this trip to Easter Road.
But with the forward line not firing like it should be, there is a chance Daizen Maeda is given the nod, with Brendan Rodgers sharing his thoughts.
Daizen Maeda to start vs Hibernian?
“He’s actually in a better place than when he left because he was still trying to get up to speed,” said Rodgers.
“He has gone away. Trained. He has played some games. I spoke to him when he did come back and he feels ready to start if we need him.”
Celtic’s attack
There is a lack of consistency from the forward line this season and Rodgers not being able to pick a consistent side has played a part.
Either Liel Abada is out injured, Maeda is off to the Asian Cup or the likes of Mikey Johnston just weren’t taking their chances and have since been loaned out.
The hope is that the team finally starts to fire, keeps their foot on the accelerator and then start to pick up the wins to maintain top spot.
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