Celtic Midfielder Opens Up About Dark Days: Depression, Lack of Motivation, and Energy

On Sunday, the midfielder made just his fifth SPFL start of the year at Livingston, and he gave an extremely outstanding performance.

Hatate had hamstring issues in March of last year, a calf injury in August at Aberdeen, a hamstring problem again seven minutes into the Champions League encounter against Atletico Madrid, and calf issues in January that prevented him from playing in the Asian Cup.

The 26-year-old receives a lot of physical abuse from opponents in his position, but none of his ailments are related to that contact.

His nutrition, training regimen, and preparations have all had to be completely reevaluated due to his persistent muscular issues, as Hatate stated in an article published by Japanese magazine Sportiva:

I handled my feelings and emotions as I felt them and I spent a lot of time feeling depressed.

However, that doesn’t mean I cut corners in my rehab or that I neglected my daily life. I was doing my best in everything but, to put it simply, I just wasn’t motivated and had no energy.

However, there are people who care about me and who worry about me, including, of course, my family.

My father was concerned about my injury and my mother was also concerned about my condition. They contacted me, which naturally led me to become more positive.

With less than two months of the season to go Brendan Rodgers will be hoping to have Hatate back on a permanent basis- especially if he can maintain the standards set at Livingston on Sunday.