Celtic star Ismaila Soro has been ordered to improve his home cooking skills by boss Neil Lennon - after the midfielder gave himself food poisoning days before the Parkhead side were due to take on Hearts in the Scottish Cup final.
The 22-year-old has been one of the standout performers for the Hoops over the past month after breaking in to Lennon's XI for the Europa League win over Lille in November.
Another positive showing against Kilmarnock appeared to suggest he would be in the frame for a Hampden start against the Jambos, but he had to be content with an appearance from the bench in the six-goal thriller that sealed Celtic's quadruple treble.
However, Lennon revealed that was down to a bout of self-inflicted illness, joking that the Ivorian's skills in the kitchen were sorely lacking compared to his exploits on the pitch.
Soro was back in from the start in the win over Hamilton Accies on Sunday, starring in midfield alongside Callum McGregor, but the Celtic boss admitted he may need to ban the youngster from the kitchen for the end of the festive run in.
"We couldn’t start him last Sunday because he came down with food poisoning on Saturday night," Lennon said.
“He had sickness and diarrhoea the night before, although he felt better in the morning.
“I told him he isn’t allowed to cook again. He must eat in the canteen.
“Soro still has to mature a bit in that sense, but he will learn."
The midfielder earned a few unflattering comparisons with Ivorian counterpart Eboue Kouassi after being posted missing for the tail end of last season when he joined the club from Bnei Yehuda in Israel.
Short spells in Moldova and Belarus prior to that have given him little time to adjust to life in any new settings and while Lennon admitted patience was required, he remains convinced the midfielder has the necessary tools to thrive in Scotland.
“Soro’s English isn’t great although it’s getting better. He’s French-speaking, so he can talk to some of the boys, but he did take time to adjust," he said.
“He’s living on his own over here and we had to take our time with him, but he has done really well in the last few games and he gets better as matches go on.
“His passing is crisp, he covers the ground well and he dovetailed well with Callum."
