ANGE POSTECOGLOU will thrust any thoughts of a title race or Europa League qualification from his mind at Hampden tomorrow evening.
The Celtic boss will be concentrating entirely on the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final against St Johnstone and insisted: “EVERY competition we are in is a priority.”
Postecoglou is looking forward to his first competitive visit to the national stadium as the Hoops gaffer for the crucial confrontation that could see him edge to within 90 minutes of his first trophy since his arrival in June.
The Greek-Australian said: “When you join this club, in whatever capacity you come in, success is expected and standards of play and results are expected.
“Every competition we are in is a priority.
“I’m not discounting anything just because I happen to be new in the door and I’m not giving that allowance to the players who are new to it, either.
“We are all here for one thing and that’s to bring silverware to this football club because that is the expectation.
“We still have to get through a semi-final before we start thinking about that and that’s where the focus is.”
Postecoglou, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “Tomorrow will be a massive challenge for us, but what a brilliant opportunity to get to that final stage.
“That’s where our focus is and that will always be our focus irrespective of the competition.”
Immediately after the encounter against Callum Davidson’s trophy holders, the Hoops chief will turn his attention to the Europa League Group G game against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany on Thursday night where a good result could throw up a winner-takes-all situation when Real Betis visit Parkhead for the final section match.
And then Aberdeen have to be met and overcome in the Premiership meeting in Glasgow on Sunday afternoon.
There has been little respite for Postecoglou on or off the pitch since he touched down in Scotland five months ago, but his focus has remained impressively sharp – and that just might be good news for the Hoops fans at the national stadium tomorrow.
