Everything that Daizen Maeda said to the media after Celtic defeated Livingston 3-0 in the Tony Macaroni arena
That's three red cards in two games, it is not a good look is it?
It was great to get the result against Livingston. But that was the second game in a row we had to play with fewer players and that is something we are going to have to think about. We are going to have to think about how we manage situations – because if that was a Champions League game it would have been even more difficult. I’m happy with the victory but we have a lot to think about as a team. We don’t want to have these situations again. Injuries happen in football. We cannot do anything about it and the important thing is how you deal with them. When it comes to yellow and red cards – that is something we can manage. We need to play intelligently. We are doing well right now but we have to be careful not to get players sent off as it makes things difficult.
Were you due a goal?
It wasn’t just about the goal. I was purely playing to keep contributing to the team and helping us get the victory. I was thinking, at some point, it is going to come. I was very happy to finally score at the end. When I was playing as a winger I was managing to get into some good positions. When I went up front I knew that I had to get the goals for the team so I managed to get into some nice positions and eventually, I managed to score.
Celtic played with nine for 30 minutes in Europe in midweek and for 60 minutes against Livingston, you were a man down. Are you not shattered?
Was I feeling tired? No. Nothing. Not at all. Even if we had extra time I could still run. It’s no problem! I let the fans down in the Champions League game as we couldn’t get the result. We had to put it behind us and concentrate on the league game. I was very happy to give the supporters a good result and performance. We have a week to prepare for our next match so hopefully we can continue in the same form next time. Whatever has gone on before, we cannot look back. There is a time to talk about it but then we move on. There are a lot of positives to take from the win and we will be looking to do our best next time out.
Livingston is always a difficult game, especially on that pitch, isn't it?
When you are playing at the Champions League level, you can’t really make any excuses about the physicality or the pitches. We have to treat the domestic league exactly the same. We have to focus on our own style and show this is the way we can play, and this is how we win. Hopefully, we can show that more and more in the coming weeks.
Can you carry this form into the Champions League?
The most important thing in the Champions League is confidence. We lost the other day but there were some positives in the performance. For me, I think it’s important to get results in the domestic league as that will allow us to take confidence into the European games. Winning in the league is important first – then we can take belief into the European matches.
The manager praised you highly and raved about you after the game how does that make you feel?
The manager has started me in recent games, even though I didn’t score. I am grateful to him and that shows that he trusts me. Even before the game on Saturday, he told me I was going to score. I was very happy to repay his faith in me.
Did you see the incident where the manager helped the young fan who'd come onto the pitch?
We saw him on the pitch at the end with the young supporter! You can see he has a lot of passion for this club. It was a big victory and you could see what it meant to him..
