Pete O'Rourke has stated his worry regarding the injury to Celtic centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi.

What's been said?

In an interview with GIVEMESPORT, the journalist stated his belief that, following Ange Postecoglou's recent claim that the 27-year-old is "nowhere near" making a return to first-team football, the continued absence of the Japanese hitman is a real concern for the Bhoys - particularly as it appears the striker has no set return date.

Speaking about Kyogo's injury, O'Rourke said: "It's a massive blow for Celtic, to not even have a timeline for when he might be able to return is a real concern."

"Massive blow"

While it is true that Celtic currently sit atop of the Premiership table, having extended their unbeaten run to a rather remarkable 23 league fixtures with a 2-0 win over St. Mirren on Wednesday evening, the absence of Kyogo is certainly beginning to tell.

Indeed, the recent 2-0 Europa Conference League defeat to Bodo/Glimt followed by the 0-0 draw with Hibernian last weekend marked the first time in Postecoglou's reign that the Hoops failed to score in consecutive fixtures, while the 56-year-old's first-choice front three of Jota, Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada have scored just one goal between them over Celtic's last six outings.

As such, it is evident that the continued absence of a player who has hit the back of the net 16 times, as well as providing his teammates with five assists, over his 26 appearances for the club could well start to cost the Bhoys dearly in what is an extremely close title race this season.

So, it is indeed clear for all to see that Kyogo's absence is a massive blow for the Hoops, as O'Rourke suggests, with not knowing exactly when the Japan international will make a return to action being something that is sure to have the Parkhead faithful extremely worried.

In other news: Forget Jota: Celtic passenger who lost 71% duels is becoming a "huge problem" for Ange