Stephen Welsh reckons Kyogo Furuhashi won’t fold in the physical furnace of Scottish football.
The Japanese star produced another magical show as Celtic blew Hearts away with a sizzling brand of attacking play at Parkhead.
Furuhashi scored his fifth for the club in four starts and also had a hand in the goals bagged by Odsonne Edouard and Welsh in the win.
As well as putting his sublime touch and electric movement on display, the Asian ace also proved he can cope with robust defending.
Furuhashi was dumped onto the deck by uncompromising Hearts challenges as Robbie Neilson’s side refused to stand back and admire their opponent.
However, Furuhashi appeared to relish the battle and, at one stage, just brushed it aside with signals to defenders and waved to lift his new adoring followers in the stands.
Welsh said: “He’s coming up against good defenders and big defenders who will want to be physical with him, but he’s always wanting the ball and I thought he handled that well.
“That is going to happen, especially up here in Scotland.
“Kyogo’s quality speaks for itself. His movement is one of the best I have seen come into Celtic.
“It must be an absolute nightmare to play against. Actually, I know that myself already from training with him.
“I think he also showed that he can play on the wing as well instead of just being up front.”
Manager Ange Postecoglou also insisted his new boy will handle any intimidation and added: “I’m sure he’s had that in his career in the past.
“He can handle himself well. I think you saw that he just gets on with it. If the opposition resorts to those sorts of things to try and stop him, then that just shows how much of a threat he is.
“He’s the type of player supporters want to watch and he feeds off their energy. He was good and he’s settled in really well.
“He’s a smart player and intelligent. He played off the left for us and handled it alright. He’s always a threat and is super-positive.
“He took his goal well and his pass for the first goal was just brilliant, too. Then again there is more to come from him.”
Furuhashi was part of a sensational attacking show from Celtic which ripped Hearts to pieces in stages.
Tom Rogic and James Forrest were also full of menace as well as the Japanese and the French attacker and Postecoglou had threats across the park.
Welsh admired it from behind and said: “First half was an unbelievable performance. Probably the best I have seen in a while from a Celtic team.
“As a back four, we are so comfortable because we know the quality that we have in front of us.
“We have some of the best players that I have seen and that we have played with and we know they will show their quality and create chances and score for us.
“We could have scored so many goals in the first half.
“Second half we were off it a wee bit, but that is maybe because of the intensity that we play at and you are going to get a bit tired.
“I’m very confident that will just come with the amount of games we are playing.
“We have another game on Wednesday and then another one on Saturday and that’s the best thing for us and, hopefully, we can take the first-half performance into the second half.
“But the most important thing is that we won the game and we are in the hat for the next round.”
Welsh also played his part on the offensive side with a terrific header from Edouard’s cross to grab the second goal of the game.
It was a first strike in front of supporters for the centre-back who savoured the moment in front of his own punters.
Welsh said: “That’s my first in front of fans and I cannot even describe it. It is probably one of the best feelings I have ever had.
“For me the most important thing is to win the game and if I can contribute to that, then even better. The adrenaline gets to you.”
Welsh, though, knows that not everything was perfect on the day with another couple of goals shipped in the second period of the match.
Hearts striker Liam Boyce won and converted a penalty which was conceded by his partner Carl Starfelt, while visiting sub Aaron McEneff was also on the scoresheet in stoppage time.
Welsh knows these issues need to be ironed with challenges coming thick and fast, starting with Wednesday’s Europa League Play-off first leg tie against AZ Alkmaar.
He said: “As a defender, first and foremost I want to keep clean sheets, so not to do that is disappointing for me also.
“I know we will go away and work on things to stop that.
“We know that AZ Alkmaar are going to be a top side and we’ll need to be on top of our game.”
