johnreid 
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It could have been a difficult situation for Celtic centre-back Carl Starfelt when he was forced into a new centre-back partnership with Yuki Kobayashi for the Hoops’ game against St Mirren on the 18th of January.
However, the Swedish international responded in style to the challenge, as he and Kobayashi performed well in their first game together in a partnership, as the Hoops won 4-0.
The duo could well have played together in training, as they teamed up together well, and the numbers show just how well Starfelt in particular played for the Hoops at Celtic Park.
WhoScored.Com showed that Starfelt recorded the remarkable total of nine clearances and four interceptions in the game, which was the top total in both clearances and interceptions in the match, the player also contributed one blocked shot.
It will be interesting to see if the partnership of Starfelt and Kobayashi continues for the Hoops in Celtic’s next game, against Morton in the Scottish Cup, as it might be too much of a gamble to have Cameron Carter-Vickers back in the team, as he missed the win over St Mirren with an injury, and he might require a rest to get back to full fitness.
As it stands, Celtic have five centre-backs on their books, and one wonders if a player could leave the Hoops before the transfer window closes, Stephen Welsh would seem the most likely candidate to complete either a loan or permanent move away from Celtic Park.
As for who is going to be the first-choice centre-backs at Celtic this season, it will likely still be Starfelt and Carter-Vickers, but it is a good sign that Kobayashi performed well on his Celtic debut, and perhaps the Japanese talent will play a number of games for the Hoops this season, and maybe by next season he will be ready to play every week for the Bhoys.
In the absence of Carter-Vickers, Starfelt stood up to be counted and became the leader of the Hoops defence, and that is what Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou would have expected the 27-year-old to do, and he did just that, and he is a player that the Bhoys can rely on to perform well most weeks.
Starfelt might not get the adulation that Carter-Vickers does, but he showed his importance to the Hoops in what could have been a difficult situation, and he deserves a lot of credit for that, and hopefully Starfelt’s good form will continue no matter who his partner at centre-back is for the Hoops.
I don’t know what game you were watching but Starfelt played the ball straight to a St. Mirren player and it was Kobayashi that had to come to the rescue with a good block. I’m not saying Starfelt didn’t defend well at times but after giving it away 3 times in the semi final on Saturday and once last night, then the sooner the partnership of Kobayashi and CCV starts then the better!