John Hartson is well-versed in the art of striker's play.

The former Celtic striker spent five years with the Hoops between 2001 and 2006 and knew his way to goal alright. He hammered in 110 of them in green and white.

Hartson also notably played alongside one of the best attackers to ever don the hooped jersey: Henrik Larsson. The Swede helped himself to 242 Celtic career goals in 315 matches after all.

The Welshman used to watch as the King of Kings bulged net after net thanks to gambling on the big centre forward heading the ball down at the back post for him to pounce on.

Hartson is the first to admit that his game was built on sheer power and brute strength amid some rough-and-tumble combat with opposition defenders - a stark contrast to Larsson's approach.

It also stands in opposition to current Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi, whose prowess as an attacker is more subtle and comes from his finesse in and around the box; not unlike the super Swede Hartson played alongside actually.

So what does the 51-cap former Wales international see when he studies Kyogo at close quarters? What sets the Japan striker apart from his peers as a centre forward?

Let's start with why Hartson is convinced his trademark near-post run and finish are no happy accident but a product of Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou's famed training routines allied to Furuhashi's natural ability and hard-working nature.

"I think Kyogo's got unbelievable movement," Hartson told The Celtic Way. "He is very sharp and he is an excellent finisher. When he gets in a one-on-one situation he doesn't miss that many. He darts across the back line and times his runs to perfection.

READ MORE: Facing Henrik Larsson - Seven defenders he tormented open up on failing to stop the King of Kings

"Those types of goals don't come about by accident. How many times have we seen Kyogo make that near-post run across the defender and score? Postecoglou will be working constantly with the team on producing this kind of goal for Kyogo.

"The full-backs will be constantly overlapping and wingers like Liel Abada, Jota and Maeda will be actively encouraged to get to the dead-ball line. The midfielders like Reo Hatate, Aaron Mooy, Callum McGregor and Matt O'Riley will be on red alert as they will always have to be on the lookout whenever they receive the ball for Kyogo making that split-second run. He can only do it once so it is up to his team-mates to be tuned into that whenever he does get off his mark in the build-up.

"It's OK making those runs but Kyogo then has to get decent contact to guide it into the net whenever it is played across the face of the goal. A lot of that is just down to sheer hard work on the training ground and some of it is just down to Kyogo's natural ability as a striker.

"I used to watch other strikers to see what their movement was like. I would generally go to the back post because I knew if the ball was overhit I could nod it back into an oncoming midfield or knock it down to my strike partner, who most of the time was Henrik Larsson. I always knew that Henrik would be in the right place and he would gamble off my headers and generally feed off the loose and second balls.

Celtic Way:

"I am a huge fan of Kyogo and he seems to be gambling like Henrik did whenever a player gets the ball out wide that's when he makes that dart to the front post and he has profited a lot from doing that. As Scottish football has witnessed when Celtic execute that move properly it is just so difficult to defend against."

The best in Scotland he may be but Hartson remains hesitant to put a final goal tally on Kyogo's name this season - for now.

With 22 goals in all competitions already this season and potentially 16 remaining depending on the team's Scottish Cup progress, Furuhashi has been touted to become the first Celtic striker since Leigh Griffiths in 2015-16 to net 40 goals in a campaign.

"I'm always a bit reluctant to put figures or final tallies on players because I don't want to put them under pressure," said the 47-year-old. "I do think Kyogo is capable of scoring that amount of goals, it is not beyond him, but he will have to go some to achieve it.

"The way he is going he could potentially achieve that number. I love him. I absolutely love Kyogo - although if Celtic win the league I don't care if he doesn't score another goal this season!

"But it is difficult at Celtic not to hit 20 goals a season at least. I always feel if you are a striker for Celtic and you are not hitting 20 goals then you are not doing your job right.

"You are guaranteed to be playing in front of the best crowd who absolutely adore you and you are featuring in a team that more often than not has 11 internationals in the side. If you are not getting three or four chances a game with regard to the quality of players around you then there is something wrong."

Beyond the goals that Kyogo brings to the side - which is impressive enough on its own - Hartson says he constantly finds himself applauding his sheer work ethic and ability to put a shift in for the team.

"He works his socks off and is very brave," Hartson added. "He will go in for headers where other strikers might think twice. He does not mind getting himself hurt.

"He will know that if you create chances for him then he is a centre forward who will score goals. Kyogo has scored every type of goal for Celtic - volleys, tap-ins, near post goals, headers, shots from outside the box, technical goals... he has done the lot and he plays with a smile on his face. That is great to see."

What do the Celtic fans sing again? We've got Abada on the wing, We've got Kyogo doing his thing...

Kyogo might not be quite as prolific as Larsson in front of goal but few Celtic strikers of the modern era ever will be.

It is, however, very fair to say that thanks to his accomplished striker play the man from Japan is definitely up there alongside the super Swede in terms of popularity in Glasgow's east end.