'I put a bit of thought into that, mate' - Celtic manager states desire to 'disrupt'

Celtic’s squad will be utlised by Ange Postecoglou in his Premier Sports Cup tie against Ross County in Dingwall on Wednesday.

Celtic's latest arrival Sead Haksabanovic could earn his first minutes of game time from the bench in the Premier Sports Cup tie away to Ross County, according to his manager Ange Postecoglou (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

But the Australian will intentionally look for a different dynamic as he seeks to prevent his players losing their freshness across a week in which the Highlands tie will give way to Celtic hosting Rangers and Real Madrid in mouthwatering encounters. It was put to the Postecoglou that any pack-shuffling in wide areas allows him to switch between five wingers in Jota, Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda, James Forrest and now Sead Haksabanovic – likely to make the bench against County – that all have “different skillsets”.

“I did put a bit of thought into that mate,” said the Celtic manager. “Yeah, it’s great to have guys coming in who can all bring something a bit different. Sometimes when substitutions are made it can be a bit like-for-like, but I like to disrupt things when I’m making changes and I feel I have the players here who can do that. In terms of the wingers, they all have a different skill-set and they all bring different things to the table.”

A glimpse of what Montenegrin international Hasksabanovic could bring might be afforded as Celtic take on Malky Mackay’s men. “Sead has just come in and will need a little bit of time to get up to full speed,” said Postecoglou. “We can afford to bleed the new players in now, so it will be the same with Sead. He certainly won’t start, but it would be good to maybe get a bit of a look at him at some point.”

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