“He can handle it”; Carl Starfelt left impressed by new Celtic signing

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Carl Starfelt enjoyed playing alongside new Celtic signing Yuki Kobayashi on Wednesday night, feeling he acquitted himself well in a big home debut.

Kobayashi only arrived at the club last month and after a period of training is now set for more opportunities in a Celtic shirt, especially after impressing against St Mirren.

The Japanese centre-back was accomplished in possession, distributing the ball into the opposition third sharply throughout the 90 minutes, as well as coping with the Buddies’ physical threats.

Starfelt gave a positive verdict speaking to The Scottish Daily Mail [20/01 print edition, page 73]: “I thought he played really well. It was a good debut for him. He was cool on the ball and he won his duels. He was really good.

“‘That is what a lot of the games are like here. It’s very physical. He did really well and showed he can handle it. I didn’t give him too much advice, just the normal stuff like getting to know each other and knowing how close to be to each other to help each other out.

“The competition for places is now really good, it pushes everyone. It keeps everyone on their toes and on edge, while developing their games. The rest is up to the coach.”

Kobayashi may well get an immediate opportunity to back up his debut with another strong defensive performance this weekend.

Celtic face Greenock Morton in the Scottish Cup and Ange Postecoglou has already confirmed Cameron Carter-Vickers will be rested after picking up a knock at Hampden last week.

That leaves Starfelt needing another partner and I’d expect Kobayashi to be preferred over Stephen Welsh or Moritz Jenz, neither of whom has featured recently.

It will be another step towards the recent arrival establishing himself within the Celtic squad.

In other news, “I’ve too much respect”; Efe Ambrose’s class Bhoys comments ahead of Celtic Park return.