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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Aidan Macdonald

Celtic handed Reo Hatate injury boost ahead of Rangers Hampden showdown

Celtic have been handed a major injury boost regarding Reo Hatate ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers.

The Japanese playmaker has been out of action since before the international break after he picked up an injury against Hibernian.

However, the 25-year-old has been spotted in training ahead of the Hampden showdown after the club shared an image on social media.

Jota also returned to training after missing the last two fixtures as he appears to also be in contention.

Postecoglou has insisted going into the match that his team "don't" need any extra motivation despite dropping points at home to Motherwell in their last fixture.

The 1-1 draw was the first time the Hoops had not won a game in all competitions for 17 fixtures.

But the Australian feels that that result will be at the back of the players' minds going into the derby at the national stadium.

"It is going to be a really good game in terms of it having everything on it," he told Celtic TV.

"Both teams know the consequences of not being successful on the day so it will have everything you normally expect from a Cup semi-final and it is one we are looking forward to.

"This time of year, they are all big games and you want to be involved in them instead of sitting home and watching them. 

"I am looking forward to it. We don't need motivation for Sunday. It is always there. Every game we want to try and be the team we aspire to be.

"In the game against Motherwell, we know that it was disappointing in both the result and the performance but that there is a learning moment there for us," he continued.

"We have been pretty good at learning things along the way while winning games of football which is not easy.

"We obviously didn't do some things in the last match as well as we wanted to. There is a chance for us to improve on that with the context that the group has been outstanding for a long time.”

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