Pat Bonner nails it with his view on why Reo Hatate is better than Paulo Bernardo at Celtic

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The biggest dilemma Brendan Rodgers has had at Celtic this season was dealing with the injury to Reo Hatate.

The Japanese international has missed an incredible 34 games this season due to hamstring and calf muscle problems and not one player at Celtic has grabbed the opportunity to take his place in the team. [Transfermarkt]

Sure, Brendan Rodgers has tried to fill the void with Odin Thiago Holm, David Turnbull, Tomoki Iwata and Paulo Bernardo.

Iwata has only recently stepped up after recovering from his own injury problems and Bernardo did seem to be preferred to all four earlier in the season.

But the return of Hatate has exposed the deficiencies in Bernardo’s game and former Celtic hero, Pat Bonner, has shared the exact qualities the Japanese midfielder has that make him a much better option than the Portuguese.

Bonner says Bernardo will ‘never’ be as creative as Hatate

Bonner was running the rule over Hatate’s return and said that his passing and vision were two of many things that he does that make ‘the difference’ between the two players.

Bonner said [Scottish Football Podcast], “When you see a player that has been out for so long and he comes back, it’s just his influence on the game and the way that he plays the game.

“He doesn’t always stick in the same position, he moves around but what he’s always doing is always playing forward.

“Most of the time when he gets the ball, he’s always kind of open on that half turn, gets open and then he can see a pass.

“And that allows players off the ball to make runs that maybe they wouldn’t do when, I’m sorry but I’ve got to compare him to Bernardo because it’s the same position that he’s playing on that left side of a midfield three, Bernardo’s always facing with his back to the opposition goal.

“And he keeps the ball quite well, but he’s never going to be creative in the way that Hatate is and that’s the difference.”

The return of Hatate is a massive boost for Rodgers. The timing couldn’t be any better as the crunch Glasgow Derby looms.

A win on Sunday will blow the title race wide open and put daylight between the two clubs until Rangers play their game in hand against Dundee on the 10th of April.

The incentive for Rodgers and his team is there, all it needs is the likes of Hatate to show their quality and put Rangers to the sword at Ibrox this week.