JOHN KENNEDY has revealed one of the main reasons behind Kyogo Furuhashi’s success – hard work!
The Celtic assistant boss opened up on the Hoops’ top scorer who claimed his 22nd of another prolific campaign in the 4-1 win over St Johnstone in Perth on Sunday.
Kyogo lost four months to injury of his debut campaign at the champions following his £4.6million arrival from Vissel Kobe in Juley 2021, but still managed to hit the net 20 times, three more than second-best Giorgos Giakoumakis.
SIGNS ARE GOOD…Kyogo Furuhashi sits it out after netting against Livingston in the 3-0 win last week.
The pacy raider hit the ground running in front of the fans in Paradise when he walloped in a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Dundee just eight days after touching down from Japan.
Kyogo will lead the line again when the Hoops face St Mirren in the Scottish Cup fifith round encounter as they look for a place in Monday’s quarter-final draw.
The 28-year-old international frontman netted in the team’s 4-0 victory over the Paisley men last month and Kennedy said: “He’s a very humble guy and I think he appreciates what the fans offer the team.
“He takes a great lift from that, scoring in front of the crowd. You can see him straight away, the first thing he does is go straight over to the crowd.
“At the end of the games he’s usually the one up front leading the party, but he’s not like that at all.”
PREDATOR POUNCES…Kyogo Furuhashi swivels and shoots to score Celtic’s second goal in the 4-1 success over St Johnstone in Perth at the weekend. Defender Alex Mitchell is too late to intervene.
SHAKE ON IT…Alistair Johnston congratulates Kyogo Furuhashi on his 22nd goal of the season.
THAT’S MY BHOY…captain Callum McGregor applauds goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi.
Kennedy, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “He goes around the training ground, he’s very quiet. Out on the training pitch, he works ever so hard, like the rest of them do, and just gets on with his business.
“That’s testament to the type of character he is. It’s great to see these type of guys getting the rewards because we see how much he does behind the scenes.
“The fans see him on a matchday out there performing, scoring the goals and he makes it look so easy, but he puts a lot of work in behind the scenes to make that happen.”
Kyogo kicked off his Scottish Cup adventure last month with a double in the 5-0 victory over Championship outfit Morton.
As ever, the relentless hitman will be looking to add to his tally in the 5.30pm kick-off on Saturday.
