Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic injury update as Ange Postecoglou hails team for allaying his concerns

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou highlighted the energy levels his team were able to reach on the back of their midweek exertions in Hungary to eviscerate Dundee in reflecting on his men’s 4-2 victory at Dens Park.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou at full time.

But, even as he heaped praise on the quality of the football they produced with blistering pair Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi netting doubles to carry on from where they left on in the Europa League 3-2 success against Ferencvaros in Budapest on Thursday, he refused to overlook the concession of two goals from crosses into the box across the encounter.

‘It was a good performance, a strong performance,” he said. “We played some excellent football at times and controlled the game and played it on our terms. We scored four great goals and we could have been a little bit more ruthless in front of goal.

‘We were disappointed to concede two goals. We just got a bit sloppy for both goals and part of our progress is to understand that we can’t lose focus or take liberties with our game. But overall, considering Thursday night and the fact we didn’t get back to the early hours of Friday was a tough game and I was a bit worried about how we would go physically.

[The front players] are going really well, but as I said on Thursday we provide a platform. The rest of the boys work hard to play off them and give the best opportunity to display their abilities with the football they play – and they appreciate that. They put in the hard work in a defensive sense, so it is a collective thing – but there is no doubt all three are special talents who have hit some great form and I am sure there is more to come.”

Furuhashi was required to receive treatment during the confrontation before being replaced by Giorgos Giakoumakis 61 minutes in but Postecoglou said the Japanese predator, who now has 12 goals for the season, hadn’t succumbed to any significant issue. “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 was good.”

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