ANGE POSTECOGLOU has denied rumours that Celtic striker Kyogo will be out for the rest of the season, but he has admitted that his hamstring injury is worse than was first feared.

The Celtic manager was reluctant to place an estimate on when he might have the Japanese star fit and available once more, but he acknowledged that he would remain on the sidelines for a number of weeks at the very least.

Kyogo picked up the injury in the final game before the winter break at St Johnstone after rushing himself back from a previous hamstring injury to score a double in the League Cup Final win over Hibernian.

That gamble looked to have paid off handsomely at the time, but the price appears now to have been the absence of Kyogo for a sustained period.

"Kyogo's injury is more significant than we were hoping it would be and he will be out for a number of weeks,” said Postecoglou. "It's not going to be a quick return.

"I don't know how long and I don't want to put a timeframe on it. Mainly because of Kyogo himself, plus we are still getting him assessed and we need it to settle before we get a definitive answer on it.

"But he will be out for a number of weeks and that is disappointing for us and also Kyogo.

"He loves playing for this club and he can't wait to be back out there.

"He's not out for the rest of the season. I can assure you of that."

The injury to Kyogo doesn’t necessarily mean though that Postecoglou will go back into the transfer market for attacking reinforcements this month.

"We have already brought in Daizen (Maeda) and (Giorgios) Giakoumakis is also fit now. It feels like we have two new players.

"To be fair to Giakoumakis, he was a victim of us having to do things in a rush in the summer. He missed pre-season, he came in late, and then picked up a couple of injuries.

"I feel we have bolstered our frontline with two new players, so I am comfortable with that area.

"We also have James Forrest back after a disrupted first half of the season, we have a bit of depth there."