ANGE POSTECOGLOU admits he will be replying heavily on his squad as Celtic face seven games in 21 days before the World Cup Finals in Qatar next month.
The Hoops continue the countdown when they face Hearts at Tynecastle in the 12.30pm clash today and the manager is likely to shuffle the pack once again.
Postecoglou made five changes from the side that beat Hibs 6-1 a week ago for the Wednesday Premier Sports League meeting with Motherwell which ended in a 4-0 triumph and a place against Kilmarnock in the semi-final at Hampden on January 14.
Remarkably, the three players who claimed the goals in the rout of the Easter Road outfit didn’t start at Fir Park with James Forrest, the hat-trick star who became a ton-up Bhoy, Giorgos Giakoumakis, who netted a double, and Daizen Maeda, who claimed his first league strike of the season, all on the bench.
Liel Abada (2), Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi collected the goals that mattered against Well, but there is no guarantee any of them will start in the capital this afternoon.
Before the back-to-back romps against Hibs and Motherwell, the champions had to be satisfied with odd-goal victories over Steven Hammell’s side and St Johnstone, both 2-1, in the league.
There were claims the Hoops were struggling to get back up to speed.
Postecoglou said: “I can see why people think that way, but you’re looking at outcomes and if you do that it suggests we’re in great form now.
“I don’t think we were far off it before then. I think people realise that we weren’t putting away our chances, but I thought our football was decent and we were creating chances whether in the league or in the Champions League.
“People look at the final result and say we are going well at the moment, but, as I said, we haven’t been far off it.
“It’s always pleasing to score goals and the players are human beings, so I guess they get a bit of confidence out of that, as well.”
Postecoglou, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “We changed five players from the weekend to midweek and we got two comprehensive victories and performances.
“If we want to maintain our levels of performance and get the results we need during this busy period then we need the whole squad.
“The players have embraced that and whatever team we put out there is the one we think can win a game of football for us and after that’s done we look to the next challenge.”
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