Celtic dealt big fitness concern ahead of Old Firm clash, supporters will be gutted - opinion

Celtic centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi may not be fully match-fit until next season.

That’s according to injury expert Ben Dinnery, who claimed in a recent interview with Football Insider that, despite the centre-forward suggesting earlier this week that he is in “very good condition” ahead of Celtic’s upcoming clash with Rangers, the Japan international will take a considerable amount of time to regain his pre-injury levels of both sharpness and match fitness.

Dinnery went on to state that, while the 27-year-old may well get a run-out at Ibrox in order to get some first-team minutes under his belt, Celtic fans should not expect to see the striker back to his best until the club’s 2022/23 campaign.

Speaking about Kyogo’s recovery, Dinnery said: “It will depend on how much he is playing and the environment at the time. He has spent over three months on the sidelines. It will take a while before he gets to pre-injury levels in terms of sharpness and match fitness.

“It may be that we don’t see Kyogo hitting those pre-injury levels this season. It might just be an opportunity to get some minutes in his legs and test that hamstring. But ultimately, we won’t see a fully fit Kyogo back in that Celtic team until pre-season.”

While the vast majority of Celtic supporters will be well aware that Kyogo will take time to regain his match fitness after spending over three months on the sidelines, Dinnery’s claim that the centre-forward may not return to his best until next season is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful gutted – especially as the Bhoys are set to face Rangers three more times in all competitions this season.

Indeed, over his 14 Premiership appearances this season, the £4.95m-rated striker has been a revelation in the