Ange Postecoglou has called on his Celtic players to channel any nerves they have ahead of their Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Rangers into positive energy.
The Parkhead manager recently spoke after the last derby encounter between the teams, insisting that the game was littered with mistakes made by both teams.
In the end, Celtic made fewer major errors than Rangers on that day, as they ran out 3-2 winners in the east end of the city. The Australian knows the winner of today’s crucial game at Hampden could be decided in a similar manner.
“When you play games of big consequence it’s only natural, it’s human nature. It’s very hard to eliminate that,” Postecoglou said. “What you do is try to control as much as you can, the parts that you need to focus on to play your football. That’s not always going to happen. Nerves, anxiety, and the occasion will always seep into this kind of contest.
“It’s the team that settles the best and stays clear-headed in those moments with more chance of success.
“I thought it was a game of many mistakes last time. Within that, though, there were some quality goals from both teams. So, the quality was still there, there was a smattering of both elements.
“It will be the same on the weekend. Such a big game and with the atmosphere the way it will be it’s inevitable that some mistakes will be made. You just have to minimise those.
“They’re human beings. For all the best will in the world, they still get affected by this. But the successful ones, the ones who perform on these days, are the ones who can sort of block as much of that out.
“You’ve still got to bring the passion to it. You still have to bring the human emotion to it. You can’t just go out there and just stroll about. You can’t stay sterile in such an environment.
“You’ve got to let it drive you, but you try and use it in a positive way rather than something that inhibits you.”
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