Former Celtic star Simon Donnelly has claimed Kyogo Furuhashi could be in with a shout of starting at the weekend in the Scottish Cup Old Firm derby clash.
The 47-year-old was speaking live on Sky Sports News on Monday following an emphatic 7-0 victory on the weekend for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Should Ange start Kyogo against Rangers?
Yes
No
And Japanese forward Kyogo made his long-awaited return from injury against St Johnstone at Parkhead having been sidelined since the end of 2021 through a hamstring issue.
Kyogo was introduced for the final 16 minutes of the game in Glasgow, with his previous game coming on Boxing Day – ironically against St Johnstone.
But it was not quite a smooth-sailing game on Saturday, with the Bhoys seeing Giorgos Giakoumakis pick up a potential injury issue after netting against the Saints.
Celtic will quickly turn their attention to a huge semi-final on the weekend against bitter rivals Rangers after they edged a narrow 2-1 win in the league derby just over a week ago.
Donnelly feels Kyogo’s brief cameo at the weekend and the potential injury to Giakoumakis could encourage Postecoglou to start the Japanese ace in the game against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men on the weekend.
He said: “He’s [Giakoumakis] picked up a little injury there that Celtic will be hoping that’s just a precaution, taking him off. I think it was his hamstring.
“He’s been in fine form as well. And that might encourage Ange to play Kyogo from the start in the big one on Sunday.”
TIF Thoughts on Donnelly’s comments…
We are also interested to see how Postecoglou approaches the game against Rangers on the weekend given they prevailed at Ibrox just the other week.
Will Postecoglou look to keep his side the same on the back of the impressive display against the Premiership strugglers, or will he look to reintegrate Kyogo back into the XI?
The Japanese forward had made a stunning start to life in Scotland before picking up the injury, however, the Bhoys have coped well without him and have not lost a single game without the 27-year-old.
And we do not think it is just a question of whether Kyogo deserves to return to the XI, but we feel Postecoglou needs to ensure he is not rushing the Japanese forward back too soon.
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