Ange Postecoglou has warned Celtic have to be careful with Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Japanese attacker has made an instant impact at Parkhead since his big-money summer move from Vissel Kobe.
Celtic fans were hugely disappointed when Kyogo was left out of the starting line-up for last weekend’s draw with Livingston as Postecoglou used him from the bench.
The Aussie manager knows supporters want their Asian ace involved for every minute, but says he has to guard against burn-out.
Kyogo had been through a large section of the J-League season before he even arrived in Glasgow and then went straight into a new Scottish campaign.
The 26-year-old has already played 20 games for club and country since, but sustained a knee injury which kept him out for three weeks in September.
He has been a livewire with 10 goals already to his name for Celtic, but Postecoglou insists the attacker can’t be expected to constantly reach maximum levels of performance if he is pushed to breaking point.
He explained: “We have to be really careful with Kyogo because he left Japan three quarters of the way through a season.
“He’s come back, he’s had international football, he’s already had an injury.
“I know people want him out there all the time and he’s done fantastically well every time he’s played, but we have to be careful as it’s just starting November and we can’t be just playing every game right through to April and May and expecting him to perform at the top level.”
Postecoglou has increasing options in the attacking area and insists players have to be looked after to be kept at their best.
He said: “Of course. You have to. We have already seen we lost Kyogo and Callum McGregor in the last period.
“ Giakoumakis was out, Mikey Johnston, James Forrest was injured. We had no real options up there.
“Now we have got them back, I have to get them up and running, get them fit and give them as much game-time as possible so we have options up there.”
Furuhasi is expected to return to the startling line-up for Thursday's Europa League crunch against Ferencvaros.
Postecoglou’s team still harbour hopes of reaching the next phase of the competition after Christmas having dumped the Hungarians on home soil in their previous group outing.
The manager is desperate for Celtic to keep developing as he builds his squad up and believes activity in Europe is of crucial benefit.
Prestige and finance from qualification is beneficial to the club, but it’s all about player progression for the boss.
Asked about the importance of staying involved beyond Christmas, Postecoglou said: “You want to get past just because it is another opportunity to test yourself.
“Every time we play in Europe, that opportunity is there for these players, particularly as we’re trying to build a team and play a certain way.
“The more opportunity you get to do that against top opposition, and that’s what we’ll face, you want to take it. You don’t want to dismiss it.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t make the Champions League, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get through the Europa League, I’ll be disappointed if we haven’t got European football in the New Year because those are the kind of opportunities you want to develop and grow.
“For us, that’s the main goal and aim.”
