Mark Wilson believes the Celtics’ winter addition can gain “great confidence” from his performance against Livingston.

Celtic defeated Livingston on Sunday to advance to the Scottish Cup semi-finals after their loss at Tynecastle.

Daizen Maeda gave the hosts the lead early on when he easily volleyed past former Hoops custodian Michael McGovern after grabbing a great pass from Nicolas Kuhn.

Even though Brendan Rodgers appeared to be having an easy day at work, Livingston answered through Daniel MacKay, who slipped past the Bhoys’ defence and beat Joe Hart to tie the score.

Maeda, in a recurring pattern, scored his second goal after the Northern Ireland international parried a shot from Matt O’Riley. He did so by stooping low and heading past McGovern.

Tete Yengi’s outstanding finish early in the second half allowed David Martindale’s team to tie the score, but they refused to give up.

Both teams had opportunities to resolve the matter, but Maeda benefited from Tomoki Iwata forcing the issue in order to complete his hat-trick, so Celtic wouldn’t be denied a well-earned trip to Hampden.

In stoppage time, his countryman Kyogo Furuhashi sealed the victory with a brilliant flick that he took advantage of to slot home with style.

Although there was some doubt about the Hoops’ defensive performance, Rodgers’ team did more than enough to guarantee a spot in the Scottish Cup semi-final draw.

According to Mark Wilson, Nicolas Kuhn impressed Celtic yesterday.

When Kuhn arrived at Parkhead for £3 million from Rapid Vienna in January, there was excitement surrounding his arrival; however, since then, he has failed to ignite the heather, scoring just one goal in his first seven games [Transfermarkt].

Separately, the 24-year-old played against Livingston, providing the Celtic forward line with directness and the ability to drive at his marker—a quality from which Mark Wilson thinks Kuhn will benefit greatly going forward.

In response to Gordon Duncan’s question about whether Kuhn’s performance against Livingston [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard] could have launched his Celtic career, Wilson said, “You would like to think so, players all go on confidence.” No matter how or where you were acquired—whether it was through the youth academy or for £4 million—it makes no difference.You are most successful when you are confident. Without a doubt, Kuhn appears to have taken a little while to get going. He has been written off by many; I wasn’t persuaded by him.

“After his performance today, he seems like a player. He appears to be a player during those 70 minutes, and he will gain a lot of confidence from that.

Wingers and front players in particular may depend on confidence a little bit more. Every time he got the ball today, Montano gave him a beating. He should be satisfied with his day’s work because he received a standing ovation when he finished, and James Forrest was quite animated when he joined the stage.

At last, Nicolas Kuhn has arrived at Celtic.

Kuhn scored his lone goal for Celtic on his debut against Aberdeen in early February, but aside from that game, he hadn’t had any noteworthy performances until yesterday.

Sometimes all you need is for something to click, and that appeared to happen yesterday right away. Kuhn appeared to be a man eager to make a point in front of the Parkhead supporters.

The former Ajax player demonstrated his abilities to consistently beat Cristian Montano, getting the crowd excited. He also provided Maeda with the first goal.

The 24-year-old should be able to build on his outstanding performance going forward and be given the opportunity to shine this weekend against St Johnstone.

In other news, Richard Gordon and Pat Bonner perplexed by Celtic manager’s assessment of the team’s victory over Livingston