The curious case of Celtic’s Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura continues as Brendan Rodgers gives an update on the Japanese duo.
Since signing for Celtic this summer, Yamada has made just five appearances amassing 147 minutes of first team football.
As for Inamura, his stats are even worse as the former Albirex Niigata defender has made just one appearance as he played the full 90 minutes in Celtic’s 3-0 win over Livingston this season.
Both players are more often than not left out of Brendan Rodgers‘ matchday squads and here, the Celtic manager sends both players a message ahead of the SC Braga clash.
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Brendan Rodgers tells Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura to be patient at Celtic
From what Celtic fans have seen of Yamada and Inamura, both players look like they could do a job for the first team.
However, Rodgers sees both in training and it seems like they still have a bit of work to do to force themselves into the Celtic starting lineup.
Rodgers told Celtic TV, “Guys are just training hard and well, and if there’s ever a spot that opens for them, then they’ll be in the fittest condition as they possibly can be.
“Like I said, there’s players in front of those guys and as I said, they’re good guys, are working very hard, and if the opportunity comes for them, then they put themselves in a good place.”
Where Celtic sit in the Europa League table compared to Rangers
Celtic’s opening day draw against Red Star Belgrade got Rodgers’ campaign off to a good start as he got his first Europa League point on the board.
Celtic are currently in 17th place level on points with Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, Real Betis and Red Star.
Rangers, on the other hand, suffered a defeat on matchday one after former Celtic striker Hyeongyu Oh scored Genk’s winner in the 1-0 Ibrox win.
That leaves Russell Martin sitting 31st and under pressure to get a result against Sturm Graz in Austria tonight.
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