Celtic star Tomoki Iwata accepts he will have to raise his game to reach the high standards of Callum McGregor after admitting he regards the Hoops captain on a far higher level than him.
The Japanese ace joined Celtic in the last transfer window and Ange Postecoglou has opted to use him so far in a central midfield role, although he has also played as a central defender and a full back for former club Yokohama F.Marinos under the current Parkhead manager.
And Iwata admits even his limited time so far at Celtic has shown him he needs to get up to speed quickly if he is to play next to Hoops captain McGregor. Iwata, in an interview in his homeland, said: "I knew if I wanted to play in European football, I would have to play as a holding midfielder. That's where the manager used me at Yokohama.
"It's been about a month since I came here, but the speed and intensity of play is different from Japan, and even the ball and pitches are all different. The reality is I can't do as well as I did in Japan because we have Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate who all start games and they all have something special that they can do...and I don't. So I want to gradually get used to it and play more matches.
"My strengths as a holding midfielder are tackling and breaking up moves. But in this Celtic team, you need to have something extra. Here we have players who can create the tempo of an attack and distribute passes, for example, Callum McGregor.
"Callum McGregor is the heart of the team and the captain. I think the bar is set very high for me to be able to compete with him. But I have my own way of developing. Even if I don't play in as many games, there are things I can learn from him in training.
"When I see how he passes the ball, or how he makes a change of tempo, he is very consistent, which is something I lack. I think it's important to learn that in a short time and evolve into a player who can do something when he has the ball.
"A large part of my motivation to sign for Celtic was to play in the Champions League and I would love to do that next season and I will keep fighting to improve my game here."
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