Matt O’Riley says Japan tour will ‘really help’ Celtic when season starts

Matt O’Riley believes Celtic will take the advantages of their Japan tour into the upcoming season.

The Hoops midfielder was talking after a 1-0 win over Gamba Osaka which got here by means of an Eighty fifth-minute purpose by defender Alexandro Bernabei.

The victory got here after final season’s treble winners had misplaced 6-4 to Yokohama F Marinos on Wednesday and chatting with CelticTV O’Riley, who performed greater than 100 minutes of soccer over each video games, mentioned: “It was robust with the situations, not simply within the climate however the pitch was rather a lot heavier than the final recreation.

“It was a very good take a look at and each groups performed good soccer and made it troublesome for us.

“It’s good and it’s fairly distinctive enjoying in opposition to different groups which have constructed their health, in order that’s fairly a problem.

“Their health ranges are already fairly excessive and they’re midway by means of their season.

“From a structural standpoint they’ve good cohesion and it was robust going however it will actually assist us going into the season.

“Regardless of both teams having a lot of chances we were very solid defensively and put our body on the line even in a pre-season game.”

Brendan Rodgers’ squad returns to Scotland within the coming days with the journey bringing an finish to the few weeks of coaching in Europe and Asia, and with two extra video games arising in Dublin and Glasgow.

Ahead of the opening cinch Premiership recreation in opposition to Ross County in a few weeks, O’Riley spoke in regards to the positivity underneath Rodgers, who returned for a second spell as Celtic boss following Ange Postecoglou’s departure to Tottenham.

He mentioned: “I really feel actually good and we’re in a greater place than we had been within the final recreation.

“The scoreline within the final recreation is one we didn’t need however it’s nonetheless early in pre-season.

“I’m very fortunate to have had superb managers in a brief area of time at a younger age.

“The gaffer right here is very good at speaking and getting his level throughout in a concise means. For all of us, that makes it simpler to transition onto the pitch.

“Being able to have this relationship where you can speak to him and learn new things constantly in an open environment is very enjoyable.”