Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou says he’s relishing the “good challenge” of overcoming Hibernian tomorrow night.
The Hibees come into the Wednesday night clash on pretty ropey form. Losses to Rangers, Aberdeen and Dundee United have put paid to an early-season title tilt, but they still have the quality to finish high up the table.
It’s encouraging form from a Celtic perspective though. The Bhoys, in contrast, have been picking up excellent results. It could be three away wins on the trot if Postecoglou breaks a long-standing, annoying Celtic record.
Postecoglou is taking little for granted, however. Having seen how dangerous Hibernian can be, earlier in the season, the Celtic manager has described the game as a challenge for us, regardless of form.
Postecoglou said [Celtic FC]:
“It’ll be a good challenge for us. I think they’re a good side. Their form, the last probably two or three weeks has been patchy, but I think the Rangers game, they were well in it, up until they got the red card.
“Before that, their form was really good. It’ll be a tough contest, I think they’re strong defensively, but they’ve also got some threats going forward.
“For us, it’ll be a good challenge tomorrow for sure. We’ve got to perform well to get a result there, so yeah, looking forward to it.”
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou can do what Lennon, Rodgers and Deila couldn’t against Hibernian
If you want to endear yourself long-term to a group of supporters, managing to do something your predecessors couldn’t would go a long way.
Not to put pressure on our Greek-Aussie boss. But it’s remarkable that even Brendan Rodgers couldn’t win away at Easter Road. With Celtic on such good form, and Hibs struggling, surely the time is now. Surely.
And what momentum it would give us. With Livingston, Ferencvaros and Dundee ahead, there are opportunities to go on a galvanising winning run. Meanwhile, Rangers have Aberdeen and Motherwell up next, two potentially tricky ties.
Postecoglou now has the luxury of an almost-full squad to choose from. Tomorrow’s team selection, therefore, could throw up plenty of surprises. Postecoglou went with Kyogo on the right and Jota on the left against St Johnstone, with Juranovic and Ralston at full-back. You have to imagine he’ll be considering swapping some players around to deal with specific threats.
If Celtic are able to control the game as they have in their last three matches, we could be on to something. But Hibs will not lie down, and a scalp in the form of Postecoglou’s Celtic would put a real spark into Jack Ross’ team.
It should be fascinating. And our manager is right up for it.
Read more: Josip Juranovic explains how he managed to take over Celtic penalty-kick duties
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