ANGE POSTECOGLOU is pleased with Daizen Maeda, despite his recent poor form.

The winger was one of Celtic’s worst performers in their Champions League loss to RB Leipzig on Tuesday and left many fans frustrated until he was eventually taken off.

Maeda’s end product was poor in the loss, as was his decision-making. When the ball came to him, he seemed to always go for the easy pass, which would see him pass back the way.

The Hoops should’ve exploited his pace, but the fact of the matter is, they couldn’t. When a ball was played in behind, and Maeda had achers of space, he was extremely wasteful, punting an aimless ball into the box that went out for a goal kick.

The Celtic manager is insistent that it’s not all about the end product and points to other pleasing attributes of the Japanese winger.

Speaking to PLZ Soccer, Ange Postecoglou stated he would stand by his forward, despite not scoring yet this season.

“I know people look at the end product. He was a bit unlucky on a couple of occasions today but he just puts in an enormous work rate.

“We felt that from last week, on their right-hand side it can be a threat going forward. I thought his defensive work was outstanding, and that helped us as a team.

“He’s got to learn the other side of the game at this level; it’s really important. In terms of finishing and end product, he keeps getting into those positions, every game he does, goals allude him.

“We can’t just scrap him because he’s not the finished product yet. We’ve got to persevere. The same with all our players, apart from Joe, you look at the rest of them age-wise and experience wise this is a massive jump for them.”