Celtic players and staff are coming towards the end of their break after the Sydney Super Cup trip, with efforts to prepare for the second half of the season ramping up over the next week.
Carl Starfelt confirmed the players had been given the chance to travel on holiday following the match against Everton last weekend, with squad members and the coaches dispersed to various parts of the world to re-energise after a busy start to the campaign.
Starfelt flew to Dubai with Oliver Abildgaard and James Forrest, as an example, with the Swedish international vowing to put in extra training work on his break after missing a significant chunk of the season.
Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, headed to his hometown of Melbourne to catch up with friends and family. Harry Kewell went straight to the World Cup to provide co-commentary on Australia’s group-stage matches.
It’s expected the team and staff will initially re-connect at Lennoxtown later this week before subsequently jetting off to Portugal for another warm-weather training camp.
While abroad, it’s thought the Bhoys will go up against Rennes in a friendly after French reports indicated Celtic will take on the Ligue 1 side towards the end of next week.
Postecoglou is expecting his players to return ready and raring to go, with the time off given in service of best preparing them for the challenges ahead, rather than just being a rest for the sake of it.
The plans are designed to prepare as optimally as possible ahead of a busy schedule immediately following the World Cup break with big away matches against Aberdeen, Hibernian and Rangers on the horizon alongside home matches against Livingston and St Johnstone.
The trip to Pittodrie is first up, coming at lunchtime on Saturday 17th December.
The Celtic squad is in good shape with no major injuries reported in recent times, while captain Callum McGregor is closing in on a return after being spotted at the Bhoys’ training days in Sydney, albeit in non-contact sessions.
New signing Yuki Kobayashi is also on his way to Scotland with the club confirming he can meet up with his new teammates from December 1st, before a competitive debut coming from January 1st onwards.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou ally set to work alongside Celtic icon abroad.
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