Postecoglou says Celtic need to stick to attacking principles

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou believes it is vitally important that Celtic keep to their playing style as the Premiership enters its decisive run-in.

The Glasgow side have ten games to play and lead city rivals Rangers by three points, as well as having superior goal difference.

The run-in continues with the visit of St Mirren to Celtic Park on Wednesday night, and Celtic are hoping to bounce back from the disappointment of drawing against Hibernian on Sunday.

St Mirren have been one of the form teams in the league in 2022 and have their own ambitions of finishing at least in the top six. That marks them out as a dangerous opponent for Postecoglou, who says every team has something left to aim for in what is going to be a competitive end to the league season.

For that reason, the Australian thinks it’s paramount that Celtic stick to the approach that has taken them to the top of the league.

“I know people have said there’s only 10 games to go but you have seen the shift in the last 10 games,” he said.

“Every game does have an edge, every team is playing for something whether it’s avoiding relegation or getting into the top half, Europe, championships. There’s a fight for everything out there.

“Not that there isn’t earlier in the year but it just becomes more of a focus now and every team has to deal with that, including ourselves.

“St Mirren’s form has been as good as anyone’s apart from ours in recent times and we know that’s a danger.

“Irrespective of that, we know that the next 10 games, every one is going to be a real arm wrestle. I don’t think you will find that any team is not going to fight for something in these games.

“Which is why it’s even more important that we don’t get derailed and think we need to change our approach or do things differently.

“We have just got to stay the course and whatever has got us to this point, keep doing down that road and believing in it and tackling the challenges ahead. But there is no doubt you are going to see plenty of competitive games between now and the end of the year, in all fixtures.”

The attacking approach has taken some criticism in recent weeks as Celtic were dumped out of the Europa Conference League by Bodo/Glimt before drawing with Hibs and Postecoglou understands the flak but says the style is not negotiable.

“I don’t want to change people’s opinions and how they view things but we are where we are today because of a reason – because we believe in playing the game a certain way,” he said.

“That’s not going to change because people think something didn’t work for 90 minutes of a football game. That’s not what I’m about, that’s not what we are going to be about as a team.

“We are in year one of building a team that hopefully plays football in a way that is going to be totally identifiable to us. That’s never going to change while I’m here. And to the credit of the players, they are all in on it.