With Celtic preparing to face Hibs over the coming days, Brendn Rodgers knows a win will take him a step closer to yet another treble.
The Celtic manager has been relentlessly defending his Scottish Premiership title after suffering just two defeats all season in the league.
With the talent Rodgers has at his disposal, it’s little wonder the Hoops boss is dominating Scottish football but there is one player who former Celtic hero, John Hartson is in awe of.
Reo Hatate and his ‘little bit of magic’ for Celtic
Hartson told The Go Radio Football Show [20m], “Hatate can do that. Sometimes, he drifts in and out of games, but he provides little moments in games which just set him apart, really.
“Even in the Champions League games, he’s been Brendan Rodgers’ mainstay, hasn’t he?
“People have thought, does Bernardo come in? Does he change it? Does he play this and that?
“And for me, it’s been McGregor, Engels and Hatate, because he’s got that little bit of, you know, he’s a bit of a maverick and he can produce a little bit of magic at times.”
Reo Hatate’s Celtic season so far
Hatate has been one of Brendan Rodgers’ main men at Celtic as the Japanese midfielder has been trusted to start in all the big games.
With seven trophies to his name, Hatate has the chance to add another two before the season is out. So here is how Hatate has been central to Rodgers’ domination with Celtic this season so far:
- Appearances: 45
- Goals: 7
- Assists: 5
- Goals in Champions League: 1 vs RB Leipzig
- Assists in Champions League: 2 vs Slovan Bratislava & Aston Villa
With Hibs up next, Hatate is likely to start in the big Scottish Cup game and hopefully, he can help Celtic progress to another date at Hampden.
Rangers are Celtic’s next opponents in the league and with Hatate netting two and creating two against the Ibrox club since he started his Hoops career, it would be hard to bet against him having another big Glasgow Derby impact next weekend.
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