Celtic star Matt O'Riley has brushed off hard-nosed tactics from Blackburn and insists it's perfect practice for the rigours of the Scottish Premiership.
And the attacking midfielder has revealed Ange Postecoglou has drawn up plans to help his team mix it with the best teams in Europe when they enter the Champions League group stage. The Premiership champions will be in pot four and are guaranteed encounters with leading sides from leagues such as the English Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
O'Riley has been a standout during pre-season and was instrumental again during Celtic 's dominant first half display against Jon Dahl Tomasson's Championship in the 2-2 draw at Parkhead. But the 22-year-old took a dim view of some of the roughhouse tactics on display from the opposition.
He said: “Blackburn were feisty and a bit nasty. They left a bit on a few of us. Tony Ralston’s boot was split in half, but it was competitive and that’s what we want. We have to handle that because we’ll come up against teams in the Premiership who will kick us to try and stop us.
“But if we’re on it with our counter press and we’re crisp on the ball, the rest will take care of itself. We haven’t looked that far forward to the Champions League just yet, but we’re already putting plans together in training with how we’ll set up when we play better opposition.”
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