One of the loudest cheers from the Celtic End at Hampden at the weekend came when Kyogo Furuhashi was chucked on against Rangers.
But there should be an even bigger roar if Giorgos Giakoumakis can shrug off his sore hammy and get back in to the thick of the Premiership title fight.
It has been some turnaround for the big Greek striker. In the first half of the season Celtic fans barely noticed when he wasn’t around.
Now they are counting down the minutes until he gets back.
No one can underestimate the influence Giakoumakis now has on this team. Him being missing at Hampden was huge.
Talk about absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The big fella is unlikely to be attempting a Cruyff turn, skinning three men before pinging one in the top corner.
But the job he does for this Celtic side is massive. There’s no doubt having Kyogo back will make a difference for the run-in.
Yet it’s Giakoumakis who dictates the entire way this team plays.
Go back a couple of seasons to when Neil Lennon won the title the season after he returned to the club.
Celtic’s charge to the title was down to a number of factors but Leigh Griffiths coming into the starting line up was right up there.
Not only did Griff bag crucial goals to fire the club to the title, his very presence also altered the way Celtic could play and it got the best out of Odsonne Edouard.
Giakoumakis has done the same. He has scored vital goals but by leading the line he has allowed Daizen Maeda to do his work wide and down the channels, hassling full-backs and turning defences.
Moving Maeda through the middle was a natural choice with Giakoumakis out at Hampden but it removed a key part of Celtic’s success in recent months.
The Greek hitman is more of a physical presence. He bumps defenders around and can hold the ball up.
When Giakoumakis is around, his very presence attracts defenders – and you then see wide men sneaking in at the back post to finish things off.
The best strikers can help create goals without ever being near the ball.
Celtic could also do with Giakoumakis declaring himself fit for this weekend. The Highlands are only welcoming to tourists.
Dingwall looks fraught with danger on Sunday with Malky Mackay’s men arguable the fourth best side in the country over the last four or five months.
It’s a tight ground and a fierce contest – as Rangers found out last time, having already seen Celtic needing a goal in the 97th-minute of injury-time previously.
Any points spilled on Sunday will reignite the fight immediately ahead of the last instalment of the Old Firm saga at Celtic Park a week later.
The guy who was the Invisible Man in the first half of the season might be needed to become the title-winning hero.
