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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu backed to be game changer against Rangers

Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu has been backed to take the Old Firm showdown by storm by former Hoops hero and countryman Ki Sung-Yueng.

Oh has impressed since his  £2.5 million move from Suwon Bluewings in January and the 21-year-old has already scored three times for his new club.

He could be set for his Old Firm league debut after getting a 14 minute taste of the fixture at the League Cup Final at Hampden when he came on as a sub with Celtic lifting the trophy after a 2-1 win.

And Ki - who played in ten of the fixtures from 2010 before joining Swansea City in a £6 million deal two years later - reckons his South Korean countryman has all the attributes to make a big impression if Ange Postecoglou calls him tomorrow.

Ki, now 34 and playing for FC Seoul, said: "If Oh does well in a game like the Old Firm, he will become a hero. If you don't you have to live with the burden of failure.

"It's the toughest derby in the world and the fans create the most unbelievable atmosphere. It's beyond our imagination.

"I think if Celtic win this game, it will have almost guaranteed them the title.

"Even if Oh enters the game as a substitute in the second half, he will still get chances because he is physical enough to make an impression in a game like this.

"I remember my first Old Firm game. I got a warning from the referee after just three minutes!

"There will be 60,000 Celtic fans for this game and it wouldn't surprise me if they are celebrating Oh's fourth Celtic goal during the game."

Meanwhile, Callum McGregor insists he has plenty more to give to the Celtic cause as he approaches a landmark birthday.

The Hoops captain came through the youth ranks at Parkhead and made his debut in a Champions League qualifier against KR Reykjavik in July 2014, when he scored the only goal of the game in Iceland.

A success-laden career may be closer to the end than the beginning but the Scotland midfielder is still fuelled by hunger and ambition.

Ahead of the cinch Premiership clash with Rangers at Parkhead on Saturday, he was asked in a Celtic TV interview if, with his 30th birthday looming on June 14, he was looking post-career.

“No, no, just trying to forget about it to be honest,” he said.

“I feel good, physically, mentally. They say that when you get to your late 20s/early 30s that’s the prime of your career.

“The way that I try to live my life and the importance of football, that’s what I want to do, I want to do it for many years. So it is important that you continue to look after yourself in the right way.

“Once you get over that 30 mark, everyone is looking at you, ‘how is he physically, how is he looking?’ so I think it is important to send a strong message at that point as well, that you keep going and you are hungry for more.

“I want to go for as long as I can. As long as I’m still helping the team and I still feel good physically and mentally.

“I’ve been doing it for a long time but it goes by so quickly. It feels like only yesterday when I made my debut.

“At some point, somebody is going to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘that’s you finished’ and I’m going to miss it.

“So I want to give absolutely everything I’ve got in the tank between now and then.”

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