Just as Reo Hatate started to find his feet again, he seems to have been shunned from the Celtic squad. Martin O'Neill hasn't given an explanation as to why, so what is the real problem?
Let's not sugarcoat things - Hatate has been off it for most of the season. He has looked like an empty jersey, and to be honest, he dragged the team down throughout the campaign whenever he was on the pitch. However, he was trusted to play against Rangers in the Scottish Cup, and his amazing performance was part of the reason that the match ended in a victory.
He was given a start against Motherwell, where he was simply alright, and fans were torn on his performance in the 2-0 loss to Dundee United. Some thought he did well, while others were let down.
When we returned to face Dundee in the penultimate pre-split game, he didn't manage to get off the bench, and only played 18 minutes in last weekend's game against St Mirren, not really being handed the chance to impress.
It seemed as though he was finally on the up again and that we might have been getting the real version of Hatate, so why has he fallen off the radar again?
What is going on with Hatate?
O'Neill seems to prefer Luke McCowan to Hatate, which is very telling. Most supporters feel as though McCowan is the weaker player out of the two, but Hatate can be absolutely terrible if he isn't up for it on matchday.
Recently, he thankfully has been, but is O'Neill seeing something behind the scenes? We don't know exactly what is going on inside Parkhead and Lennoxtown, so we can only assume that the manager is seeing something telling in training.
Celtic are struggling to create goals, and Hatate can bring that edge. He is quite a creative player on his day, and with all the wingers at the club failing to impress, we may need to look to someone like him.
With Arne Engels returning from injury and with O'Neill likely to rotate the squad for the post-split fixtures, we could see Hatate feature more. One match to expect him in is the tie against Rangers, as he has already proven this campaign that he has what it takes to put in a real performance against them.
He kept us in the title fight when Callum McGregor was out through injury, and maybe he can do it again. He will likely depart the club in the summer, so it's time for the midfielder to show us what he's got one last time.