Daizen Maeda misfires earn Celtic response from Ange but boss admits 'we can't just scrap him'

Ange Postecoglou has thrown a protective arm around misfiring Daizen Maeda and insisted he’s not about to chuck him on the Celtic scrapheap because he’s having a tough time in front of goal.

Japanese attacker Maeda has scored just one goal in 17 appearances for club and country this term - in the 4-1 Premier Sports Cup win over Ross County in August - and passed up a couple of good chances to end his drought in the 2-0 Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig on Tuesday.

But the former Yokohama Marinos striker wasn’t alone in failing to convert chances that night and his manager isn’t about to hang the 24-year-old out to dry. Postecoglou said: “It is just perseverance. I know people look at the end product and Daizen has been a bit unlucky on a couple of occasions against Leipzig.

“He does put in an enormous work-rate. We felt from last week their right hand side can be a threat going forward and I thought his defensive work was outstanding and that helps us as a team. But he’s got to learn the other side of the game which is really important in terms of finishing and the end product.

“He keeps getting into those positions. In every game he does but goals are sort of eluding him. But again we can’t just sort of scrap him because he is not the finished product either.”

Postecoglou is adamant that his young squad will continue to learn from the Champions League experiences, even if they’ve taken a few body blows along the way with only one point won from their first four games. That has resulted in failure to get out of Group F with two games still to be played - although a third-place finish and a place in the Europa League is not yet out of their grasp.

Postecoglou added: “We have to persevere with all our players.