koki ready for the big stage

Gregor Kyle
KOKI Mizuno’s recent first-team games are a sure sign that Gordon Strachan believes that a player he has carefully nurtured and protected in reserve matches is now ready for the big stage.

Sitting down at Lennoxtown for an exclusive interview with the Celtic View Mizuno, a player already blessed with a particularly cheerful and positive disposition, is practically brimming over with excitement as he looks down Celtic’s busy fixture list.

“My motivation is really high at the moment,” he told the View. “I feel that in training and reserve games, I have an opportunity to show what I’ve got.

“I realise that this might be the right time for me, I have a chance just now and I am just trying to do my best.

“On my debut night I was so excited, maybe too excited,” he continued, breaking into a broad smile. “I don’t think I showed much vision at the time, I was only really able to see what was in front of me.

“But the second time around I was calmer, more relaxed and I could see a lot of different things in the game.

“I am getting used to it and playing in the first team is different from playing in reserve games. The atmosphere, everything about the whole ‘occasion’ is different and I just want to continue playing at this level.”

Mizuno continued: “When I first arrived here the manager told me that I needed time to get used to everything. It was all going to be completely different for me and I would have to get used to the football and the environment, just living here in Scotland.

“Playing with the reserves has helped me in that respect and it has given me experience of the style of football and time to adapt. I suppose I needed that time.

“There have been a lot of things that I have had to get used to, the first being the weather, it rains here all the time. I have also tried really hard to get used to this way of life, but I think I got into it quite smoothly.

“I like it here in Scotland,” he added. “I enjoy the life I have here and I realise I have a great opportunity at a great football club. I am determined to be a success here.”

READ the full and exclusive interview with Koki Mizuno only in this week’s Celtic View. On sale NOW.

Also in this week's issue:

- Football icon Diego Maradona parades the Hoops on his first visit to Paradise
- First-team coach Neil Lennon looks back on a dramatic win over Hamilton Accies
- Midfielder Paul Hartley is this week’s Big Interview
- Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell takes a trip down memory lane in his Bhoy’s Own Story
- And Celtic legends John Thomson and Bobby Evans are inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame
All of this and much, much more. Only in the Celtic View.

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