Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stressed the value of Daizen Maeda’s versatility after the Japan international struck twice against Hibernian as a stand-in centre-forward.
With new signing Adam Idah still short of match fitness, Maeda started in place of the injured Kyogo Furuhashi and netted twice in the first 15 minutes as Celtic beat Hibs 3-1 to set up a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Falkirk at Parkhead.
Furuhashi was missing after his shoulder popped out at Easter Road seven days earlier. It is a problem which looks likely to recur, but Rodgers appears relaxed about his depth at centre-forward, with Maeda able to fill in.
On Furuhashi, Rodgers said: “He’s had this for a long time, long before he came to Celtic. He is just managing a shoulder issue and from time to time it gets a little bit irritable and a little bit sore.
“I know Daizen can play as a striker. He has played in the World Cup as a striker, so he should be able to play as a striker for Celtic if needed. The last time he played as a striker for me he scored a hat-trick, in Yokohama, and they were all fantastic goals.
“If you look at his instinctive ones today, getting to the first post to finish and the run in behind to penetrate the space, which is what I always want from a striker.”
Asked whether he wanted another striker in, Rodgers said: “I am looking at the players here now who are working so well with a great focus and so clear in what they are doing. We want to add to it and I’m sure we will do over the next few weeks.”
When pressed about whether Furuhashi’s shoulder problem could be alleviated, Rodgers said: “Surgery will but it takes him out for probably about four months. It’s only he who can decide that because a lot of times he gets through games fine. Then at times he will fall and it will be awkward and he has an irritation.
“He’s a 29-year-old man now and he understands what he wants to do. He has managed it for a long time.
“We could have had him back into the game, but it was a little sorer than normal so I gave him time to miss the game and we will see how he is.”
Idah was introduced to a hero’s welcome days after returning to the club on a permanent transfer from Norwich.
Rodgers said: “He’s got a wee bit to go. It’s been a difficult summer for him with all the speculation and we are a few weeks ahead.
“It’s a long season, he will have felt that warmth from the support. I’m so happy he’s here, I know he will improve and develop and he will be a really important player for us over many games, but he is still getting up to speed.”
Mykola Kuharevich headed Hibs back into the game before half-time, but the visitors contributed to their own downfall as Nicolas Kuhn charged down Josef Bursik’s pass to score after Marvin Ekpiteta was loose with a ball back to his goalkeeper.
Hibs head coach David Gray said: “We were on the front foot straightaway and the first time Celtic went forward, an individual error and we lose a goal, which is not good enough, especially all the things we talked about pre-game.
“We had to tweak the system to become even harder to beat because Celtic were completely dominating.
“We took a bit of confidence from the goal and were a little bit more in their face.
“The message at half-time was we probably don’t deserve to be in the game, but we talked about being more aggressive and we knew we needed to start better.
“I thought we did up until a point and then one mistake becomes two mistakes and we lose a goal again.
“From that point Celtic completely dominated again, we slipped back into that same mode and right now it’s just not acceptable from us.”
