ANGE POSTECOGLOU expects Josip Juranovic to quickly settle back into his rhythm at Celtic after starring for Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar.
The right-back played every minute as his nation reached the semi-finals before losing out to eventual runners-up France and gained admirers for an impressive series of performances on football’s biggest stage.
Juranovic is yet to feature since the cinch Premiership returned to action last month but Postecoglou has no reservations about throwing the 27-year-old into the thick of it this afternoon as he praised his players that represented their countries in Qatar.
“He is ready to go,” Postecoglou said of the full-back. “He was ready the other night, but he had only had one training session with us so I didn’t feel the urgency to throw him back in. He has trained since then and is in good condition so he is fit and available.
“I see no reason why he can’t perform as well as the other boys who were away in Qatar have since they have come back in. We had a really positive World Cup as a football club. Aaron [Mooy], Cameron [Carter-Vickers], Daizen [Maeda], Alistair [Johnston] and Josip were all really positive contributors to their country.
“For us, it was great to see. That has also given them the belief and energy to come back here and perform for their club side. I see no reason why Josip will be any different. He has come back and feels good about how it went over there. Now he wants to come back and contribute.”
With Rangers nine points off the pace in the race for the title, there is an argument to be made that a victory would mean more to Michael Beale’s side than it would to Postecoglou’s. There is a requirement from the hosts to seize the initiative in Glasgow’s south side today but the Celtic manager won’t allow that fact to influence his game plan.
“It can’t,” Postecoglou added. “I don’t know why it should. If you start dictating how you are going to prepare for a game depending on where you are in terms of the table and what your form is you kind of miss the opportunity to prepare for what is in front of you.
“It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, it’s a big game, we’re in good form and we want to continue that good form. We want to play well. Why should whatever points difference there is on the table make a difference to us?
“It didn’t make a difference to us last year when we were behind, I can tell you that. So it’s definitely not going to make a difference to us now.”
