Ange Postecoglou on the clutch of Celtic players whose 'sacrifice' he will never overlook

It can appear pretty straightforward as to which Celtic players have underpinned the club’s treble tilt that, potentially, has taken them to within four victories of a domestic clean sweep.

Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi (centre), Josip Juranovic (left) and Jota celebrate with the Celtic support at full-time of their 7-0 win over St Johnstone on Saturday and manager Ange Postecoglou says the most important measure for his team is how happy fans are trooping down London Road at the end of games. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Ange Postecoglou utilised 16 players in Saturday’s 7-0 turkey shoot against St Johnstone. The bright cameo from jewel Kyogo Furuhashi – in his first appearance this year – meant the Australian had all his mainstays in play across their biggest win of the season. The Celtic manager readily acknowledged the fuel supplied to his team’s propulsion by his squad depth over a season in which 40 players have had game time. Pointedly, he did so by citing the contribution of performers not even stripped at the weekend.

"It's super important,” said Postecoglou. “It's not just about game day. That's the result of a week's work. Boys on the bench who didn't even get on against St Johnstone…[Nir] Bitton, [Yosuke] Ideguchi, Ralston. Welshy [Stephen Welsh] wasn't in the squad. [The injured] James Forrest and Mikey Johnston – all those guys every day at training are producing fantastic levels. That means our preparation is where it should be and, come game day, everyone is ready to perform. We don't discount anyone's effort. The ones who play get the applause and the accolades, but behind the scenes my respect goes to the guys who don't get the opportunities they deserve but want to be part of something special and always make that sacrifice."

Celtic appear to be peaking just as they need to be, their treble hopes going on the line in Sunday’s Scottish Cup against a Rangers side they defeated at Ibrox recently. Optimum fitness levels and marginal gains are pursued through crunching the numbers associated with performance and physical Yet, the 56-year-old never loses sight of the intangibles that can drive a team’s form – like surfing emotions, sticking to principles and striving for better.

"We analyse all the data which supports the kind of football team we want to be. But the most important statistic for us is our fans going down London Road happy,” he said. “That's our measure and it means that not only have we won but we've played the kind of football they want to see. We do have some metrics that we want to hit. Some are physical, some are our game style, and we have been doing that for quite a while. We sit down and analyse games. It's easy to say: 'great performance, well done boys' but there's a reason for that. We give them the feedback but a lot of it is the sheer willingness to buy into something and to believe there is something beyond just the three points."

Postecoglou’s philosophy truly comes together in the many-pronged nature of Celtic’s plundering. No fewer than 21 players have scored for the club this season – eight of these in the past two games alone. “At the start of the season it was Kyogo, David Turnbull, Liel [Abada] and Jota who were doing it,” he said. “Now it's guys like Daizen [Maeda] and Jacko [Giorgos Giakoumakis]. Matty [O’Riley] got a couple at the weekend. It's important because we don't want to be too reliant on one or two guys for goals. We've had goals from Anthony Ralston. Josip [Juranovic] gets his penalties. It's important to who we are as well – we want to be a team with multiple threats."

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