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How Celtic can replace Yang Hyun-jun amid Martin O'Neill admission

Yang is going to be away on international duty
Yang has been excellent of late
Yang has been excellent of late | Alan Harvey - SNS Group/GettyImages

Celtic have a problem to solve over the next few weeks, with in-form winger Yang Hyun-jun now away for the Asian Cup until after the next international break, which is at the end of this month.

Yang was a little inconsistent early in the season, but he has been breathtaking since the Champions League collapse against LASK. The winger looked scintillating again on Saturday night, scoring the winner for Celtic in their comeback win over St Mirren.

The South Korea international is showing rapid speed and a real calmness in the final third, which he was struggling with in the first couple of games, which certainly isn't uncommon for attackers early in a season.

Speaking after the St Mirren win, Martin O'Neill said: "We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment. If they don’t win the tournament, then he has to do (national) service. I hope they do win it.

“But he’s signed off with a brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he’ll work for you going backwards. He doesn’t mind doing the hard graft.”

How can Celtic fix the Yang problem?

The return of Kasper Hogh will certainly help. O'Neill may be reluctant to move Camilo Duran back out wide, given how well the forward has been playing in the central role, but Hogh is likely come back into the number nine spot.

That will push Duran out to one of the wings, and Haissem Hassan can play on the other. That will mean one of the two will have to play on their less favoured side, but that still has Celtic at their most dangerous at the top end of the pitch.

There are alternatives, between Sebastian Tounekti and James Forrest, with Tounekti more likely to play in Yang's absence on the left, but with how Duran and Hassan are currently playing, and the latter was superb against St Mirren, it's hard to see O'Neill going in any other direction.

Celtic now have a busy run of games, in action Wednesday night against St Johnstone, Rangers on Sunday, Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday night and then Rangers again, in the league, on the Sunday.

That's going to be an interesting test for O'Neill and his men, particularly without the in-form Yang, but there are solutions, and plenty of their attackers are in good enough form to bridge the gap.

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