Journalist Pete O'Rourke has dropped a Celtic injury claim involving Kyogo Furuhashi.

The Lowdown: Injury concern

The Japan international is still an injury concern after coming off in the early exchanges in the 4-0 Old Firm derby win in the Premiership earlier this month with a shoulder problem.

He subsequently only featured for 18 minutes in the 3-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League just three days later, with question marks over whether he should have been rushed back so soon.

The Latest: No risks to be taken

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O'Rourke has claimed that Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou 'won't be taking any risks' with Kyogo's fitness ahead of their next Champions League encounter away to Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday evening.

The journalist said of the 27-year-old: “It’ll be interesting, he obviously had that early shoulder injury against Rangers, which forced him off in the opening minute or so, and obviously wasn’t deemed fit enough to face Real Madrid from the start.

“I’m sure Ange Postecoglou will be careful with Kyogo, he won’t want any serious injury to him because he missed quite a large chunk of last season with a hamstring injury, so he won’t be taking any risks with him because we know how important Kyogo is for Celtic.

“He’s made a flying start to the season domestically, so he’ll be hoping to keep his best players fit, and Kyogo definitely comes into that category.”

The Verdict: Manage his fitness

Given his latest injury, it is so important to manage Kyogo's fitness, especially with an international break coming up.

With six goals in his first six games in the Premiership this season, the Japan international is simply too important of a player for Celtic to lose for a sustained period of time.

Even though the Hoops have lost their opening group match in the Champions League, there are still four other games left after Wednesday's clash against Shakhtar, so there is no need to risk him in that fixture if he is still not fully fit.

Nonetheless, it is probably worth seeing how he fares during the international break before playing him in competitive matches again.