Yuki Kobayashi played his first moments in a Celtic shirt earlier today, coming on in the 78th minute against Rennes in the closed-door friendly against Ligue 1 outfit Rennes.
We already knew the starters, scorers and outcome of the 4-3 result, but Celtic have now updated us with a more in-depth match report, including all the substitutions.
Kobayashi replaced Carl Starfelt in the encounter after just one week of training with his new teammates. Following the match, Postecoglou made it clear he has plenty of time to acclimatise, given he is not even eligible to play until January.
Elsewhere there were much-needed minutes for Benjamin Siegrist, Yosuke Ideguchi, Alexandro Bernabei, Oliver Abildgaard, James Forrest, David Turnbull, Sead Haksabanovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis.
There were also opportunities for youngsters Rocco Vata and Bosun Lawal, who were similarly included in the trip to Sydney last month.
Lawal actually came on at half-time, for Moritz Jenz, while Vata got the chance to make a late impact with 12 minutes towards the end of the defeat.
It’s this duo who are most likely to make a competitive first-team breakthrough from the B team this season given their inclusion in first-team training, with hopes high about the potential of both.
As the manager noted after the match, the entire squad is in a healthy position at the moment. James McCarthy is the only injury of note at the moment as the group prepare for a busy, high-pressure period chasing trophies in Scotland.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou on Yuki Kobayashi’s first week at Celtic, World Cup benefits and Aberdeen.
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