Celtic hero Frank McAvennie reckons it is time for January signing Tomoki Iwata to get a run in the team.

Since joining from Yokohama F Marinos, the midfielder has made the majority of his appearances from the bench, outside of the recent start away to Ross County.

And the former Scotland international feels Iwata should be featuring more.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: "I think the manager is doing well, bringing him in and out but I think he is ready to flourish now.

"As the manager said, there is more to come from him. He uses both feet, sprays the ball all over the place.

"He is different from Hatate, where Hatate runs forward Iwata just sits and lets McGregor be in his normal position.

"I would love to see Iwata, Hatate and McGregor in the middle moving forward."

READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Rangers are obsessed with the Celtic gap

Meanwhile, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has claimed he knew defender Alistair Johnston was going to be a success at Celtic after speaking to the player for the first time.

The 23-year-old joined the Hoops in January from MLS side CF Montreal after a strong showing at the World Cup in Qatar.

Johnston has played 15 times for the Scottish champions so far this season, three of those matches being against rivals Rangers, and Postecoglou feels he has adapted well to life in Glasgow.

He said: "He loves a battle. I guess he loves these kind of games. When you try and bring in players, particularly to this football club, what I have found is that aside from their abilities as a footballer it takes certain types of characters.

"From the moment I spoke to him I knew he’d do for me. I finished off the Zoom call and said to somebody ‘he’s going to do well here.’

"He’s just a winner, he’s very determined to get the best out of his football ability. He’s embraced the culture here and embraced the responsibility he has.

"You know, in four months he’s had three of these games, three derbies, and I think he’s excelled in all of them."

Celtic Way:

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