Brendan Rodgers is expecting to get the best out of Reo Hatate this season following his man-of-the match display in Celtic’s 4-0 victory over Kilmarnock.
The Japanese midfielder wasn’t selected initially by Rodgers this time last year and struggled throughout the campaign with a number of injury-enforced lay-offs.
He was pivotal on Sunday as Celtic went top of the Premiership table, scoring the opening goal and providing a threat throughout.
Rodgers feels Hatate has improved markedly on his watch to become one of the squad’s prized assets.
He said: ‘I didn’t see the player that I hoped to see at the beginning of last season, for whatever reason. I was aware of him and I’d seen him play and I liked what I’d seen.
‘But he never really got going through pre-season last year. And not to what I was wanting. He got injured and then it was really broken for him.
Reo Hatate, left, celebrates his goal against Kilmarnock with Matt O'Riley
The Japanese midfielder gave Celtic a lead from which they never looked back
Defender Liam Scales scored the second goal for the Premiership champions
‘He had little spells where he came into the team, but not consistently. But he’s come back for pre-season now. And obviously, how the season ended, again, there’s that confidence. He knows I like him as a player. And he knows what I want from him as a player.
‘There was always a wonderful, gifted player in how he takes the ball and how he operates in space. For me, it was about keeping the risk in the game. Because I don’t like midfield players that keep the ball 10 times out of 10. It’s no good. But there are areas of the pitch in which to risk it.
‘And I think that what I’ve seen over the course of pre-season, he’s top class. I’d hoped I could see that last season, but it doesn’t matter. He’s here now and he’s been absolutely brilliant since his comeback. So I’m really pleased for him.’
Celtic continued their trend of scoring four goals in a game having also done so in each of their pre-season warm-ups against DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Nicolas Kuhn made it 3-0 for the Hoops against the visitors
Tony Ralston completed the scoring for the Parkhead side in a 4-0 victory
Manager Brendan Rodgers, right, congratulates Kasper Schmeichel after his debut
Rodgers declared himself satisfied with what he saw from his side’s first competitive outing.
‘Hopefully we get a liking for [scoring] more. It was a very good performance and just a continuation of our pre-season. It’s always the hope that you show great form and good balance in the team. And we continued that into today. So I’m really pleased.
‘I came in here [a year ago] and not a lot of the players had worked with us before. We were a bit up and down and inconsistent. But then as the season wore on and then when it came to it and when it mattered, we got the job done. And then that obviously gives players a bit of confidence.
‘We just continued the last three months of the season into the pre-season and into today. You hope you can keep the level. But I thought we were excellent today.’
Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes admitted it was just the wrong fixture at the wrong time after returning in the early hours of last Friday morning from their Europa League tie away to Cercle Brugge.
‘The circumstances in which we came into the game meant it was always going to be difficult,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to bleat on too much about that because, obviously, it is a fallout from being in Europe. We don’t have the biggest squad as it is, but when you’ve got five starters not in your team, a club like us feels that. I’m just glad we’ve come through the game without any injuries.’