Daniel Stendel reveals why Ryotaro Meshino is out of favour at Hearts

Ryotaro Meshino finds himself out of favour at Hearts

Ryotaro Meshino is out of favour at Hearts because manager Daniel Stendel feels he is not making enough impact during games.

The Japanese forward is unlikely to make the matchday squad for Wednesday's Premiership visit to Celtic having played only 60 minutes of club football this year.

Stendel wants him more attuned to the tactical side of Hearts' attacking gameplan, which involves players harassing opponents high up the pitch when out of possession.

Signed on a season-long loan from Manchester City, 21-year-old Meshino is experiencing British football for the first time. He joined City from Gamba Osaka last August and was immediately loaned out.

He spent the first part of January in Thailand representing Japan at the AFC Under-23 Championship. He has featured in only one of Hearts' six games since returning to Edinburgh - playing for an hour in the 3-3 draw with St Johnstone.

"I think it is a bit difficult for him," Stendel told the Evening News. "Sometimes he shows in training and games that he is a player with special abilities and special qualities for Hearts.

"We need to see all of this in the games. We need some different players to win matches. In our situation, we need a team that works as a team.

"Ryo was not here for the first two weeks in January because he played for Japan. That was the situation and we tried a lot of things in this time to handle it.

"Since he has come back, we have played almost every third day. It is not so easy to get all the information in a short time about what we want to do in the next few weeks."

With Barnsley loanee Toby Sibbick still sidelined by a virus, Stendel will prioritise pace in wide areas as bottom-of-the-Premiership Hearts meet league leaders Celtic in Glasgow.

"Toby has been in his bed. It is not really clear when he can come back," explained the German. "He showed in the first two games he can help us so much in all defensive positions.

"These are the circumstances we need to handle. We would like him back early but it does not look like this just now.

"For this game you need quick players. One on side, we must not give Celtic chances to play in their offence because this is their big strength. If we can keep the ball in their defensive areas, then I think we get chances to win."