Big man Liel Abada is determined to keep snapping up the chances dished out by Ange Postecoglou. The Israeli had a blistering first season with Celtic and is off and running again this term in the scoring stakes after his brilliant strike in Dingwall. Abada curled a fabulous clincher as the Hoops made it two wins from two in their title defence with a 3-1 triumph over Ross County.
The 20-year-old’s late beauty was another example of the burgeoning talent which persuaded Postecoglou to shell out £4million to sign him as a teenager and plunge him straight into the heat of battle. As soon as he was in the door, Abada assumed responsibility.
Postecoglou said in the build-up to the Dingwall trip that the youngster wore “big boy pants” last year as he was scoring and creating and he showed again in the Highlands he was a man of substance. This year, there are more options for the boss and Abada has started the opening two competitive games of the campaign on the bench.
But Postecoglou called on his starlet at half-time against County believing he could do damage and that instinct was spot on. Abada was excellent in the second period and capped his display with that sublime third goal to seal his team’s success. The attacker is keen to shine whenever the boss opens a door and said: “I am always happy to score goals. Nice ones. Hopefully, I will get more ones like that this season.
“There is a good chance that any one of the players who are in the squad can be chosen to be the ones who are named in the starting line-up. If I’m not one of those, I’ll still do my hard work and be positive. Then, when I do have a chance, I want to make sure that I help the team.
“We have a lot of games to play at Celtic and that it is a long season here. So I just look towards my training and then from game-to-game. I’m still young and, after I play in any games, I like to do good recovery after them so that I am ready for the next one and the manager will do what he thinks is right for each game.
“When I get the chances, I want to do all the best for myself and the team. I’m happy that I did it in this game and all of the boys will now keep going and look forward.”
Postecoglou was thrilled at Abada’s impact after replacing Daizen Maeda. He said: “I just felt that, in the second half, I knew we’d get a lot of the ball.
“We had the wind behind us and Liel in those situations gets on the end of things and can beat his men. I thought he could make an impact and he did. That’s what we are trying to build. That was our whole strategy behind our business in the transfer market, to make us a stranger unit.
“We got through last year on fumes at times because we were relying on a core group of players. At the moment we’re okay because we’re playing a game a week, but when we get to the end of the month the big games will be coming every three days and we need more than eleven players.
“The guys who came on were outstanding, all of them made contributions and, if we need to make a change in the team, I feel really comfortable that anyone who is going to take that position is ready for it.”
Postecoglou’s team have class and ability, but they also have a huge heart and a knack of finding solutions to problematic scenarios.
Like on so many occasions during last season’s title triumph, Celtic needed to go and respond to a tricky situation in Dingwall. After losing a lead provided by Kyogo, Postecglou’s men had to go and win the game a second time and they managed to do it.
Celtic stayed meticulous and calm again and Abada explained: “We are always believing in ourselves during games. I am really happy that we managed to win it.”
Postecoglou’s team extended their unbeaten Premiership record to 34 games stretching back to last September. Abada says that is down to detailed preparation of the manager and also a refusal from the squad to look beyond their next challenge.
He explained: “It is just that we look from game to game and look to do our jobs and play our football. Hopefully, we will keep it going.
“The manager is always ready for each of the games and then he always tells us what to do when we are in them. But it’s that we look at it game-to-game. I really hope that we can keep it going. All the focus just goes onto the next one. That’s it.
“It was a good game for us. At the start of the match, it was a little bit difficult, but, in the second half, we managed to get chances. I’m happy to score and for the team to get the points. Now we are looking forward to the next game.”
READ NEXT
