Celtic’s Europa Conference League adventure came to a close after they lost 5-1 on aggregate to the champions of Norway, who were impressive throughout the two legs.

Asked in his post-match press conference whether he thought Bodo/Glimt could go on and win the competition by a local journalist, Postecoglou gave a terse response.

“Mate, come on,” the Australian said. “Ask their coach. Why do I care? Really. Do you think I really care who wins this tournament now? We’re not going to win it.

“They’re a good team, I hope they keep going well, but I couldn't care less who wins the tournament.”

Postecoglou also explained why he left several first-team players, such as captain Callum McGregor, on the bench for the match.

“It’s why we have a squad,” Postecoglou continued. “We can’t compete in all these tournaments without it.

“We got through the first-half of the year, but we just got through it because we had an enormous amount of injuries.

“We play at midday on Sunday and you know how late we are going to get back from Norway. After playing on an artificial pitch.

“If we expected players to back up in those two games, then I’m not doing my job in looking after the players in the right way.

“The team we put out there was good enough to play better than what we did and that’s the disappointing thing.

“But, at the same time, we have got to understand that’s why we brought players in, to make sure that we have a strong squad to compete.”

'Mate, come on' - Irritated Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou bites back at Norwegian press and explains his team selection