Ange Postecoglou has named his Celtic side to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
The Hoops go into the clash knowing another victory at Hampden would make them very strong favourites for a Treble this season. Inverness Caley Thistle await the winner of today's Old Firm showdown in the final. The Parkhead outfit have already tasted trophy success in Mount Florida this season defeating Michael Beale's men in the League Cup Final while they have one hand on the Premiership trophy with a 13 point cushion and just 15 left to play for.
A potential title party could happen next time out at Tynecastle against Hearts but all focus is on the last four showdown at the national stadium. Celtic were boosted by the returns of Jota, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada to full training all week after missing the trio in recent weeks. And the Scottish champions have decided to hand starts to two of the three with Abada missing out from the squad.
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Speaking ahead of the Hampden blockbuster, Postecoglou said: “This group of players have been through these scenarios fairly often and I don’t think there has been a moment that a player has been overawed.
“We’ve given debuts to boys in these kinds of games, even guys like Alistair Johnston this year. Part of us recruiting players and bringing them in is that we know that character and personality and they can cope with it.
'It’s relentless at this club and that happens every week and obviously with the big games, people put an extra incentive on them, but the expectation to perform is there every week for us.'
“Even the slightest blip like last week, the players know they don’t want to drop below those standards.”
CELTIC XI: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate, O'Riley, Jota, Maeda, Kyogo.
Subs: Bain, Haksabanovic, Mooy, Turnbull, Kobayashi, Oh, Iwata, Ralston, Vata.
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