Celtic: Postecoglou boosted by return of Hatate, Jota & Abada for Rangers semi-final
- Published
Reo Hatate, pictured in Celtic's League Cup final win in February, has not featured for Celtic since 18 March
Scottish Cup semi-final: Rangers v Celtic |
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Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 30 April Kick-off: 13:30 BST |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
The return of Liel Abada, Jota and Reo Hatate to face Rangers in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final is "hugely beneficial", says Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.
The trio missed last weekend's 1-1 Premiership draw at home to Motherwell.
But they have returned to training this week and are now fit for selection for the derby at Hampden.
"All three boys have missed a bit recently and are itching to get involved", Postecoglou said.
"It's hugely beneficial for us as a group. Even training this week has gone up a level because we have three more quality players who have joined in training.
"It certainly helps, not just with the starting XI, but the ability to then go to the bench and impact the game. We obviously have training to go on Saturday and they need to get through that, but they have had a strong week of training and I am really pleased they are available."
Celtic are on a run of five matches unbeaten against Rangers, with the Ibrox side's last victory in the fixture coming at Hampden at the same stage of last season's Scottish Cup.
Despite that impressive recent derby record, Postecoglou says Rangers are capable of hurting his side.
"Every contest is different, there are different contexts around it, whether it's the league, home or away, whether it's a cup final or semi-final, they are all separate entities in their own right," said Postecoglou, who confirmed James Forrest is still "another week or so away" from returning to action.
"From our perspective we are expecting them to be strong. That's how we go into every game, we expect the opposition to be at their best.
"They have some very good individuals who could cause problems and they have been very consistent in terms of results.
"Like every other game we go in there and respect the opposition but ultimately know it's up to us to play our football. We know when we have done that we are hard to stop."
With a 50-50 split of fans at Hampden, the atmosphere will be in contrast to recent meetings between Celtic and Rangers where away support is limited to little or no fans.
"It just changes the atmosphere of it," Postecoglou said.
"There is probably more consistent noise because, irrespective of how the game is going, one set of fans will probably be happier with it.
"It was a bit weird at our place when Rangers scored and there was silence. Put it this way, I don't think you will get many quiet moments of reflection come semi-final day, which is great.
"That's what we all want to be part of, it's what this game has become synonymous with, a fantastic atmosphere and great colour and hopefully both teams can live up to it."
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