Celtic Face Anxious Wait Over Reo Hatate’s Injury
Celtic now face an anxious wait to learn the severity of Reo Hatate’s injury after he was forced to leave the field during Wednesday night’s Scottish Premiership encounter at Pittodrie, reports The Celtic Star.
Hatate, who was brought on in the second half, was on the receiving end of a heavy tackle from Aberdeen’s Pape Habib Gueye towards the end of the game. The Japanese midfielder went to the ground holding his knee following the challenge. Celtic had made all their changes so had to finish the match 10 v 10, while Brendan Rodgers showed clear frustration on the sidelines.
“It was a needless challenge,” said the Celtic boss, as quoted in The Celtic Star. “I think the free kick was given, the ball’s just run away, Reo’s just relaxed and stopping it, and the guy loses his head and just kicks through it and block tackles him.”
Rodgers expressed his concern over the injury, adding: “So, hopefully it’s not going to be too serious, but it was a needless challenge. I don’t want to speculate until we know over the next couple of days, but it was a sore one and, like I said, there was no need for the challenge.”
The incident occurred just eight days before Celtic face Aberdeen once more in the Scottish Cup final. Wednesday night’s win over Jimmy Thelin’s side was thoroughly dominant, with goals from Maik Nawrocki, Yang Hyun-jun, Luke McCowan, Johnny Kenny, and Adam Idah.
Post-match, Rodgers expressed his delight at the Hoops’ display: “It was outstanding. I’m very pleased, actually. I’ve always said whatever changes I do make, for me it doesn’t and it shouldn’t affect the structure of the team, how we want to play.”
“We’ve seen that right the way through the evening. A lot of the attacking connections were so good, but it all comes from a basis of real hard work and pressing, and then that allows us to play at the tempo that we want to,” he added.
Celtic return to action this weekend at Celtic Park, where they will host St Mirren in their last Premiership fixture of the campaign. According to The Celtic Star, the Hoops will be hoping to end the league season on a high note before focusing on the Scottish Cup final.
In related news, Celtic are set to launch their new season ticket campaign, with fans able to purchase tickets for next season’s matches. The club has announced that season tickets will go on sale soon, with fans urged to act quickly to avoid disappointment.
For more information and news about Celtic FC, visit The Celtic Star.
Source link
