Kyogo Is Back In Training, But Will Celtic’s Talisman Be Ready For Ibrox?

As far as our rivals are concerned, the worst news of the whole season so far surfaced yesterday morning when Kyogo was spotted at Lennoxtown.

The Japanese striker is back in training and that means he’s in the race to be fit for the run-in.

It means that he’s in the race to be fit for Ibrox.

What do we know about Kyogo and his attitude?

We know that even if he doesn’t get games before Ibrox that he will want to play.

We know that he will work as hard as he has to in order to get up to speed. We know that after this weekend there will be a fortnight for him to do so, and he’s not on duty with the Japanese national team.

He certainly has the time.

But he could also get games.

Celtic could arrange close-door friendlies. Celtic could play intra-squad matches. There are options here if they are worried he’s going to be rusty.

And you know anyway that Kyogo is one of those players who doesn’t get rusty.

The proof of that, surely, was the cup final, when he hadn’t played for weeks, when he was not even 100% fit and not only managed to be brilliant but was the match-winner with that outrageous double.

We should believe completely in his ability to take part.

I think if he’s in training then the chances are that he will be ready to take part in the game. There is clearly an intention to get him there, and the manager will trust the player’s judgement on whether or not he’s able to do it … and Kyogo will not want to miss it.

If I were a betting man (and I am a betting man) I’d reckon he’s 75% certain to be in the squad. That’s more than most of us might have expected.

And it raises an interesting question … imagine he does make it and he is fit?

The question is, do you even start him in the match?

It might sound like a daft question but the manager will have to make a big decision on it because there are good arguments – and I may try and outline them later – that others have justified their own inclusion for that particular match.