Yutaro Oda says meeting up with some of Celtic's Japanese stars for dinner was a huge boost for him when he arrived at Hearts.
The forward was recruited by Robbie Neilson last month on a three-and-a-half-year deal to bolster attacking options at Tynecastle. Oda was the latest of an influx of stars from the Far East to come to Scotland, first sparked by Celtic's recruitment of the likes of top stars Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate. Ange Postecoglou's men then added Yuki Kobayashi and Tomoki Iwata this winter.
And those two stars, alongside midfielder Hatate, met up with the 21-year-old in the capital to ease his transition in to life in Gorgie. Oda was well versed in defender Kobayashi having both been in the youth set up for many years at J-League side Vissel Kobe. But the dinner encouraged the attacker to keep focus.
