Rangers 0-1 Celtic: 'Progress immense' but 'still work to do' - Ange Postecoglou
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Celtic stand on the brink of an eighth treble after a hard-fought Scottish Cup semi-final victory against Rangers but, in typical Ange Postecoglou style, the manager insists his side "still have a bit to do".
The Australian has been hammering home a mantra of striving for continual improvement ever since he arrived in Glasgow.
With the title defence a formality and the League Cup in the Celtic Park trophy room, Postecoglou has matched the achievements of his remarkable debut campaign, and can make it a clean sweep of honours with victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle when his side return to Hampden on 3 June.
"We still have to do the business," Postecoglou told Viaplay after the 1-0 win over Rangers.
"What we've done is we've given ourselves the opportunity to do something special, now we have got to go out there and do it."
Having lost one domestic game all season, Postecoglou's side will be overwhelming favourites to get that business done against Championship opponents, although the Highlanders can draw inspiration from a few seismic shocks against Celtic in this competition.
Rangers certainly did not relinquish their grasp on the Scottish Cup without a considerable fight. A blood and thunder semi-final at Hampden, settled by Jota's header late in the first half, was about guts more than guile.
"We're not a top team yet," insisted Postecoglou.
"We've still a bit to do, but you have to embrace every aspect of the game to be one of those sides and we're doing that.
"Dare I say it, we never stop. We're always alert. We force the opposition into mistakes.
"The progress we've made has been immense. It's credit to everyone involved."
Celtic must do without 'warrior' Carter-Vickers for home stretch
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton described Cameron Carter Vickers "a warrior" and Postecoglou said his centre-half "hasn't put a foot wrong since he got here".
The USA international has been delaying a knee operation to play, but will take no further part this season.
"They are an outstanding pair, they really work hard together," said Postecoglou of Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt.
"Cameron keeps growing as a player and as a leader within the group.
"That's his last game for us, he needs to get his injury looked at now, so that will be him for the season. But he wanted to play.
"I was trying to push him to have it done a bit earlier, but I'm scared of him so I just let him do what he wants. He was keen to play and he put in a performance that befits his standing. It's a credit to him."
Postecoglou 'proud' of Celtic resilience
Alistair Johnston also made a number of important interventions and Celtic lost none of their aggression in defence when Anthony Ralston replaced the injured Canadian.
There were a couple of second-half scares for Celtic, with James Tavernier hitting the post with a shot and Fashion Sakala slamming the rebound into the side-netting.
But Celtic held firm to make it five games unbeaten against their Glasgow rivals this season, with four wins and a draw.
"Rangers put in everything to try and stop us," added a proud Postecoglou.
"It's not just about the football and individuals, but collectively, they take hold of games and have that resilience - that's the growth of this side."
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