Ange Postecoglou has delivered his reaction to Yuki Kobayashi's first taste of action at Celtic as he outlined the plan for the defender over the next period.
The Hoops enjoyed a week of downtime away from Lennoxtown before jetting out to the Algarve for a period of intense training ahead of their return to Premiership action as they bid to successfully retain their league crown they won from Rangers last term. They hold a nine point advantage at the summit going into the second period of the campaign.
Ahead of their trip to Aberdeen next week, the Scottish champions rounded off their trip to Portugal with a friendly against French outfit Rennes. The Ligue 1 side ran out 4-3 winners in a clash that got vital minutes into the legs of the Celtic players. Skipper Callum McGregor returned to the fold after his injury lay-off while Carl Starfelt also got vital game-time. There was even a taste of being a Hoops player for Kobayashi ahead of him officially joining the club on January 1.
READ MORE: The Ange Postecoglou plane fear as mischief from Australia star landed revenge involving Celtic boss
Speaking about the highly-regarded defender, Postecoglou told the Celtic website : “It’s been a bit early for him (Kobayashi) and it’s just an introduction and we’ve got a good three weeks before he’s even available to play.
“It’s just been a case of him getting to know the lads and how we train and as always the boys have been really good and the next few weeks it’s about getting up to speed."
On the game, he added: “There were some good bits, some not-so-good bits but overall it’s been a good week of training for us.
“The boys have worked hard and probably felt the effects of it in today’s game at times, but overall it was a positive week.
“We got some minutes into the players, particularly Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt who haven’t played a lot recently and they have all come through it really well.
“We gave the boys a week off which we thought was important after the schedule we had and we obviously went to Australia and it was a great week but it took a toll on them in terms of the travel.
"So to give them a week away to freshen up was good and it was really important we got them back focused in here. We’ve been able to train here with good facilities and work hard for seven days and we have a normal lead into the Aberdeen game.”
READ NEXT:
- Celtic 'target' Tunisia World Cup star Aissa Laidouni with price tag 'named' for midfield ace
- Callum McGregor's Celtic influence highlighted by Scott Brown in bid to land domestic clean sweep
- Josip Juranovic Celtic transfer chase heats up as La Liga side 'ready' to rival Atletico Madrid
