Kyogo Furuhashi 'doing well' in Celtic recovery as Japan boss provides injury update

Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is "doing well" in his recovery from a hamstring injury and could return next month, Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu has revealed.

Moriyasu travelled to Glasgow to meet Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou and some of his Parkhead-based international stars ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers.

He confirmed that Furuhashi, who has been absent since limping off against St Johnstone on Boxing Day, he has not yet been ruled out of the Australia and Vietnam double-header at the end of March.

Moriyasu said: "Kyogo Furuhashi is doing well in his recovery progress, but is not ready to play yet. His rehabilitation is going well.

Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi suffers an injury against St. Johnstone on Boxing Day. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

"I'll look at his situation nearer the qualifiers and consider whether I will call him up."

Daizen Maeda was the only Celtic player called up for Japan’s matches against China and Saudi Arabia last month, but Moriyasu could include Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi, as well as Furuhashi, in his next squad.

"I met with 13 players in Europe and I wanted to visit the players who weren't in the last squad," he added.

"Those included Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate from Celtic.

"There is limited time before the next two matches and I wanted to speak to as many of the players who could be in the squad as possible.

"I spoke with Ange Postecoglou too and the Celtic CEO. I am very proud of the success of Celtic's Japanese players because they have been delighted with them.

"Ange told me he understood the importance of the matches and he had been impressed with the way the Japanese team is improving and how we work with players."

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