Celtic loanee Yosuke Ideguchi has detailed his enjoyment at playing regular football again while also opening up on the bizarre injury which kept him out of action at Parkhead.
The midfielder is currently on the books of J1 League side Avispa Fukuoka until the end of the season after struggling to make an impact in Glasgow.
Ideguchi featured as his side won the Levain Cup against Urawa Diamonds this week and the Japan international is enjoying his football at the minute.
Speaking to Auone, he said: " "I felt that I had no chance of playing at Celtic, but when Avispa approached me, I came without hesitation.
"But at first I felt like too much was expected of me. Of course, there were many players, staff, and supporters who didn't know me, and I felt like they expected me to play both offense and defence.
"However, during my injury. I was able to objectively look at Avispa's style from the outside and think about it.
"The first image is to pull back and defend, then take back and attack, mainly with crosses.
"I thought if I could add an accent to that, if I could play more calmly, things would go well. They came there to bring about change.
"When it comes to defence, before, I was instinctive and would definitely go out and take it if I thought I could get it, and play freely, but now I look at my surroundings and pay attention to other players so that there are no holes left in the team.
"I think it became. Even in that, don't lose your (characteristic) aggressiveness. I think that's a little different from who I was before."
The midfielder also detailed the bizarre way in which he got injured while at Celtic after arriving along with fellow countryman Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate in January 2022.
"When I played in Germany, I tore my posterior cruciate ligament just after I finally got the starting spot, and at Celtic, I got hit by a mannequin-like doll used in practice and tore my knee," he continued.
"However, I went (overseas) at the timing I wanted. Other than injury, I think the reason why I couldn't play in Europe was that I wasn't demanding enough (of those around me), or I wasn't egotistical enough.
"Since you can't catch the ball by yourself, there was a time when you couldn't decide where to aim.
"At Celtic (a strong team), we didn't really use defensive players in midfield, so it was difficult for me to realise that what the team wanted was not my characteristic."
