'We still don't see them' - Ange Postecoglou reveals what irritated him about Celtic's 3-1 win over Hearts

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was left irritated by what he considered was his team’s failure to maximise the talents of Kyogo Furuhashi – despite his team’s 3-1 over Hearts on an evening when the forward produced a sparkling 60th minute finish to claim a 25th goal of the season.

Ange Postecoglou took charge of his 100th Celtic match in the 3-1 win over Hearts. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Unusually demonstrative as the Tynecastle men caused problems early on that claimed them an early lead, the Australian could be seen throwing up his hands on the touchline. And, despite factoring in alterations to his line-up that brought the first starts for full-backs Alexandro Bernabei and Anthony Ralston for months for his team’s lack of fluency, he did not seem to consider these excused the failure to be on the same wavelength as Furuhashi.

“That was a bit of a frustrating thing because I just don’t think we used him at all tonight,” said Postecoglou, who praised his team’s “mentality” and the quality of the goals that allowed them, ultimately, to run out comfortable winners. “He makes fantastic runs and sometimes I get really frustrated that after 18 to 20 minutes we still don’t see them. The beauty of it is that he doesn’t get frustrated, he keeps making those runs. When we do find him in those areas he’s a quality player, both with his assist for the first goal [in the 25th minute that set-up Daizen Maeda] and the finish for the second. He’s an outstanding contributor.”

Maeda was forced off after colliding with keeper Zander Clark when netting the equaliser, and Postecoglou was unable to make any definitive call on the attacker’s availability for the club’s Scottish Cup quarter-final tie this weekend that will be a return meeting with Hearts, this time at Tynecastle.

“He got a knock on his knee when he scored the goal,” said the 57-year-old. “He’s a bit sore now and we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but there’s another short turnaround to Saturday so we’ll just have to see how he is.”

Postecoglou’s 100th game in charge was acknowledged in inevitably rapturous fashion at the conclusion of their 12th straight win, and wasn’t taken lightly by him. “I appreciate the support I have had from the fans since the day I arrived,” he said. “I haven’t felt anything but support, even when it wasn’t that evident what we were doing. They got behind me and the team and that has never been lost on me. I want to repay that and I try to do that on a daily basis.”