Brendan Rodgers is excited that Celtic will welcome 7000 Hibs fans to Parkhead this weekend.
The Hoops take on their opponents in Scottish Cup action on Sunday afternoon and hope for redemption following their recent 2-1 defeat at Easter Road.
Celtic confirmed that Hibs would be given the full away allocation or face having to pay for any briefs left unsold having struck an agreement. But it looks like both home and away sections should be close to a sell-out which should make for a colourful atmosphere in Glasgow.
Rodgers is known to be a fan of the noisier stadiums and has often campaigned for Celtic and Rangers to both end their away fan ticket feud to bring punters back to their respective grounds in full.
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Rodgers welcomes Hibs’ full away fan allocation
There was recently a breakthrough as Celtic confirmed they would have fans at Ibrox and vice versa in coming Glasgow derbies.
And now the Bhoys gaffer has expressed a satisfaction that Hibs will take so many fans as Rangers previously would to make it a grand occasion in the quarter-finals.
“Does near sellout show magic of the cup is alive? Yes, I think it is,” Rodgers said. “In all the games, you can’t dismiss what it means to have away supporters in your ground, because that creates the atmosphere, that creates the rivalry, and I know, especially in the Celtic Rangers games, we haven’t had that for a few years.
“But this game will show the passion that is there from both sets of supporters, and that will roll onto the pitch, I’m pretty sure, and create for a great atmosphere.
“I just think it will be fantastic.
“I think having a number of away supporters is great. Hibs are on a very good run, so the supporters will be buoyed by that as well. They’ll come and support the team and that will activate our supporters as well, so it should be a great atmosphere.”
What has been ‘unique’ about Celtic’s build to Hibs
Celtic have been able to prepare for their cup tie with a free week from a fixture this week.
No Champions League matches and no re-scheduled games in hand has allowed the Hoops to rest and recuperate in a bid to see themselves into the semis come Sunday night.
For the manager it has been a good week of recovery for his stars but he admits it has been a unique experience by comparison to the rest of the season.
“It’s pretty unique, really, over the course of the last three months or so,” he added.
“You can’t begin to imagine what that gives you in terms of the opportunity to prepare, to recover, mentally, physically, and then, like I say, we’re playing at home, which we love to play at home. We’ll have 50,000-odd supporters that will be with us in the game and we’re very hungry to get to Hampden.”
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