MATT O’RILEY says that Celtic expect their rivals to come back at them stronger next season, but that will be irrelevant if Ange Postecoglou’s team play to their potential.
O’Riley believes that this Celtic team can beat just about anyone on their day, and if they continue to push one another to improve then they will have too much for the rest of their domestic competition over the course of the season.
“We expect everyone to come back strong,” O’Riley said.
“We focus on how can we improve from last season and if we do that the rest will take care of itself.
“It is down to us at the end of the day and that comes from the top of the club all the way downwards.
“Training standards are high, off the park standards are high and we just need to keep pushing as high as we can.
“When we play at our best we can just about beat anyone. It is doing that week in week out and continually pushing each other to be better.”
Celtic have been linked with a number of defensive midfield options over the summer as manager Postecoglou looks to add some steel in the middle of the park for the step up to the Champions League group stage, with Fausto Vera and Mohamed Abou Fani the latest players reported to be of interest following the collapse of a move for Vinicius Souza, who has signed for Espanyol.
O’Riley though, who started alongside Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate in the Celtic midfield in the 3-3 draw against Rapid Vienna at the weekend, believes that combination is more than good enough to go up against any opposition.
“When we play well it is irrelevant,” he said.
“There are times and games when you need a more solid foundation but if we perform and execute the gameplan as we should then everything else will take care of itself.
“I can only control what I can do and that is what I will do.”
