Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has insisted Kyogo Furuhashi is fine, despite being substituted off after an hour today against Dundee.
The Japanese forward was gunning for a hat-trick when he was replaced by Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis.
After the match, Postecoglou did reveal he picked up an injury during the encounter, but it’s nothing serious and it sounds like Kyogo was simply being given a breather.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the manager said: “He is fine. He got a bit of a knock on the shoulder and I didn’t know how long he would last after Thursday night. We got a good hour out of him so it is good.”
That Celtic had the luxury to rest a player of Kyogo’s quality is a testament to the quality of the performance at Dens Park today.
The Bhoys were 4-1 up when he went off, with the game effectively over as a contest, meaning there was no real issue that the Japanese talent wasn’t on the pitch. If we had been struggling, Postecoglou might have kept him on.
The rest is important as Kyogo will soon be travelling abroad to meet up with his Japan squad for another two World Cup qualifiers over the next nine days.
First up is a trip to Hanoi in Vietnam on Thursday, before a trip back west to Muscat in Oman for a fixture on Tuesday 16th November.
The forward will hopefully return to Lennoxtown in fine health because there’s a hugely important semi-final against St Johnstone right after the international break. We’ll need him for that.
In other news, Ange responds superbly to Green Brigade action; this is why Celtic supporters love him.
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