Ange Postecoglou is adamant Celtic have full focus on Hibs and dealing with the edgy Easter Road atmosphere.
The Parkhead boss, who is set to make Japanese midfielder Tomoki Iwata, left, his third capture of the winter transfer window, takes his team to Leith tomorrow night aiming to extend their Premiership winning run to 12 games. Understandably, the minds of supporters will drift beyond the clash in the capital towards the top-of-the-table showdown against Rangers at Ibrox on Monday.
But Postecoglou’s team have been adept at keeping their eye firmly on the immediate tasks in hand and the concentrated boss says it’s pointless to do anything else. He said: “You can’t because, if you don’t have the right performance and result against Hibs, then what does it matter what the game after is? You are going to be disappointed. So, like I said last week, our focus is always on what is next.
“What is next for us is to get ready for a tough game in Edinburgh against a good opponent and making sure that we continue our good form.”
Postecoglou’s team hammered Lee Johnson’s men 6-1 earlier in the season, but the manager knows it’ll be tough at Easter Road. The champions were held at the home of Hibs in February during the run-in to last term’s title success and the Celtic gaffer is aware of the potential pitfalls if his team are not in top form.
Postecoglou explained: “I think it will be a tough game. We played there last season, it was a draw and it was tough for us.
“It’ll be the same. When you go there, it’s a good stadium, they get a big crowd, it feels like a big game and it’s always a good atmosphere, so you know in those kinds of games it is always going to be a bit edgy.
“You can see what Lee Johnson is trying to do. He is trying to get the team to play a certain way and he probably doesn’t have the personnel at the moment that needs to do that.
“But he’s sticking to it and, with a couple of more windows, I think you’ll see more and more of what he is trying.
“They definitely have some attacking threats, especially with Kevin Nisbet back as well. For us, it is going to be a really good challenge. Again, what’s really important is what we do.
“If we keep playing our football, keep improving, and be as strong as we can be, we know we are tough to beat.”
Postecoglou does not yet have new signings Alistair Johnston and Yuki Kobayashi at his disposal for the game due to their January 1 registration time frame, but the duo should be available for the game at Ibrox after their transfers.
Iwata is set to undergo a medical this week and his work permit is believed to be already in place. The 25-year-old will sign on a loan deal initially with an option to buy for just under £1 million – similar to the deal that brought Daizen Maeda from Yokohama 12 months ago close.
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