Rangers vs Celtic: Kyogo Furuhashi, Tom Rogic and Daizen Maeda return for Old Firm clash
Kyogo Furuhashi has not featured for Celtic since December; Tom Rogic and Daizen Maeda are back in contention; James Forrest will miss the trip to Ibrox; watch Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports Football on Sunday; kick-off 12 noon
Friday 1 April 2022 16:35, UK
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi and midfielder Tom Rogic are in contention for Sunday's Old Firm game at Ibrox after recovering from injury.
Kyogo has been out since December with a hamstring problem and Rogic missed Australia's recent internationals, but manager Ange Postecoglou revealed both players are squad for the game against Rangers, with Daizen Maeda also available again.
The only player who will be missing for the Scottish Premiership leaders is James Forrest, who sits out again with a minor muscle problem.
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Kyogo scored 16 goals in his 26 appearances for Celtic before he was injured in their Boxing Day win at St Johnstone and Postecoglou has no concerns about playing him in Sunday's derby.
"Whatever game we're going to throw him into, it's going to be a big one," the manager told Sky Sports News.
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"He's worked hard in training, he's worked hard on his rehab.
"He was sensational for us in the first half of the year and really disappointed for him that he's been out for this long, but he's itching and ready to go.
"It's just now a matter of me picking the right moment for him."
Tom Rogic is also back in contention after recovering from an ankle injury suffered in Celtic's 4-0 win over Ross County before the international break.
The midfielder was forced to withdraw from the Australia squad to focus on his recovery.
"If we had a game last week he wouldn't have played, he didn't train at all last week," said the Scottish Premiership manager of the month for March.
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"Having a long week this week, he's put in a couple of sessions and he's feeling pretty good for he's available again.
"At the moment this is probably the strongest we have been squad wise throughout the year about the health of the players and the condition we are in."
Japan forward Daizen Maeda has also shaken off fitness concerns after missing his country's final qualifiers.
Celtic lead Rangers by three points in the Scottish Premiership title race ahead of Sunday's clash at Ibrox.
"We've been really strong for the last few months on maintaining a level of performance that doesn't drop below a certain standard," Postecoglou said.
"That's been the most pleasing thing because that's the hardest thing."
Celtic brushed Rangers aside in their last meeting in February, winning 3-0.
But Postecoglou said: "They've been pretty consistently strong all year.
"I think people are comparing them with our form and thinking maybe they haven't been on it, but under Gio (van Bronckhorst) they've only lost one game in the league and that was against us."
