CELTIC manager Ange Postecoglou says he has no regrets about playing Kyogo against Real Betis, even though his star striker picked up a hamstring injury which could sideline him for weeks.
Postecoglou decided to put Kyogo on in the final fixture of Celtic’s Europa League campaign when Albian Ajeti also pulled up with a hamstring injury after half an hour of the match, even though his team were already eliminated from the competition.
The club are now awaiting news from a scan to determine how long the Japanese forward will be sidelined, but Postecoglou says that it would have been against his instincts to keep Kyogo on the bench.
“It’s frustrating,” Postecoglou said. “Those are the decisions you make as a manager. You probably have a sleepless night thinking about the different scenarios.
“But my whole ethos has always been that you go out there and you go for things. You never hold back.
“It has served me well up until now and I’ll continue to do that with the way I want my team to play and the decisions I make.
“It’s just my nature to be more aggressive than sometimes people think I need to be. But we will get our rewards because of that.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou says that he doesn’t want a repeat of the Green Brigade’s silent protest against Bernard Higgins when Motherwell visit Celtic Park tomorrow.
The Celtic fans’ group refused to sing during the win over Betis in their latest stand against the prospective appointment of Higgins to a security role at the club, but Postecoglou says he would prefer it if the kept such demonstrations outwith the matches themselves.
“My hope and wish for it is that for 90 minutes we all come together as a football club,” he said. “Because that’s what special about this football club - that 90 minutes, anyone who plays in that atmosphere knows it’s so special.
“So from my point of view I much prefer it when the crowd are right behind the boys. They both feed off each other’s energy. Hopefully that returns.”
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