Journalist Paul Hodge has described the recent injury blow to Kyogo Furuhashi as "massive" – and said that his absence alone has taken some of the excitement out of watching Celtic recently.

What has happened to Furuhashi?

After making a blistering start to his Celtic career since joining from Vissel Kobe in the summer, the striker suffered an injury whilst on international duty which is likely to see him miss around a month.

BBC Sport confirmed that the striker's knee problem is set to keep him out until October, meaning he's unlikely to feature before the next international break.

Furuhashi has already been sidelined for three matches, two in the Scottish Premiership and one in the Europa League and could miss another two league fixtures and then Celtic's crucial meeting with Bayer Leverkusen at Parkhead later this month.

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

Hodge even said that the buzz around Celtic has died down following the news of Furuhashi's absence.

What did Hodge say?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "Kyogo Furuhashi is someone that I'm fascinated to see what he does. And Celtic losing him, is a massive blow, make no mistake about that. Some of the excitement got sapped for the next two weeks from him not being there."

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How have Celtic performed without him?

Their blistering goalscoring numbers have continued in Furuhashi's absence, with Celtic finding the net six times in three matches.

However, the Hoops' form in the league and Europe hasn't gone well without the Japanese striker in their side.

They swept aside Ross County at Parkhead in the first game since his injury, but then made the worst possible start to their Europa League group campaign against Real Betis when they lost 4-3 despite leading 2-0 in Spain.

Celtic's miserable Scottish Premiership season continued with a 1-0 defeat at Livingston on Sunday, leaving Ange Postecoglou's side without a single point on their travels and already four points behind league leaders and champions Rangers.

They'll be expected to return to winning ways when they host Dundee United this weekend, but Furuhashi's absence has already been felt deeply.