Ange Postecoglou delivers verdict on winning Celtic start as Edouard and Ajeti earn praise

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou praised the all-round contribution of strikers Albian Ajeti and Odsonne Edouard to his team’s 3-1 friendly win against Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday afternoon.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was pleased with the reaction of his players as they came from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 in a pre-season friendly. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Both Ajeti and Edouard were on target in Postecoglou’s first pre-season game at Dragon Park in Newport with teenage winger Owen Moffat also on the scoresheet.

As the countdown intensifies to Celtic’s first competitive fixture of the campaign, the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie at home to Midtjylland on July 20, the Australian coach was pleased to see front men Ajeti and Edouard hit the ground running.

“They did a lot of work off the ball as well, not just scoring their goals,” said Postecoglou. “We need our strikers to work hard and both Albi and Odsonne worked really hard with our press. They got their rewards. For both of them, scoring goals gives them that confidence.”

A largely youthful Celtic side recovered from an early deficit, former Rangers forward Josh Windass giving Wednesday the lead, to leave Postecoglou satisfied with the workout.

“We didn’t have a great start to the game and took a while to get into it,” he told Celtic TV.

“We had a solid training session on Tuesday and I felt the boys probably felt it a little bit. But we grew into the game and for the better part of the first half and particularly the second half, we played some decent stuff. We scored a couple of good goals and finished strong.

“Winning is never a bad thing, especially in the manner we did. Because we didn’t start well, we didn’t play well and went a goal down. It shows the spirit of the boys, they weren’t prepared to accept that.

“We have been working hard in training and part of it is that we want to make sure we continue to play at a certain tempo the whole game. We don’t drop off.

“I thought after the second period, we maintained that and got our rewards in the end. Aside from that, it was good to see the (reaction of) the young boys. After the start we had, it would have been easy for them to go into their shells and not be as positive. But they reacted really well, which is a good sign.”

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