Brendan Rodgers explains Celtic ’emotional’ moment with Reo Hatate after on-pitch embrace

Brendan Rodgers has explained his “emotional” embrace with Reo Hatate after Celtic’s win over St Mirren. The Japanese midfielder was back on the pitch for the first time since victory over Hearts in October after two months out with a hamstring injury.

He got the last 19 minutes in Paisley as the Hoops eased to a 3-0 success through goals from Daizen Maeda, Matt O’Riley and Greg Taylor. The 26-year-old was seen in an embrace with the manager on the pitch after full-time and that had fans worried that it may have been some sort of goodbye with the January transfer window getting into full swing.

However, Rodgers explained Hatate was simply emotional after weeks of toil to get back into action. “He’s put in so much hard work and he’s a big, big player for us. So hopefully he can go away and get some minutes and keep his fitness up because when he comes back he’s going to be huge for us in the second half of the season. “So it’s great for him to be back and Liel as well because he brings a different dimension to the team – he’s a goal scorer but he plays wide, so he’s always running into score. Having those two players will help us play the kind of football we want to see.”

The three points followed victory on derby day against Rangers and Celtic sit eight points ahead of their rivals going into the break, albeit having played two games more.

Asked if the break has come at a bad time, Rodgers said: “Probably not. I have had flu and a cold for about a month, it has just been so busy. I think it’s a nice small period now for the players to recover because physically the demands are so much, especially how we want them to play and how intense we want them to be.

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