Ange Postecoglou discusses Celtic supporters backing, busy fixture schedule and Raith Rovers League Cup tie

Ange Postecoglou admits Celtic’s failure to lift silverware last season will not act as any extra motivation for his new-look squad ahead of tomorrow’s Premier Sport Cup quarter final against Raith Rovers.

The Hoops suffered early exits in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup last season during a disastrous campaign for the club.

The Australian will be hopeful a return to Parkhead can lift his players after back-to-back defeats away from home against the Championship outfit, who knocked out Aberdeen in the previous round.

Postecoglou said: “All the competitions we are in are important. From our perspective, we want to try and succeed in all the competitions we’re in.

“Once you become part of this football club then you embrace the fact that every competition you are expected to challenge for. For a lot of us, that’s the big attraction of being here.

“I don’t think there’s any extra motivation because of the disappointment of not winning a trophy last year, the pressure would still be on us to win.

“Tomorrow night is a good opportunity to take a step closer to playing in a final, so we’re looking forward to it.

“Cup games are a little bit different to league games with both teams aware that everything hinges on that day, so we are expecting a tough game.

“We use every avenue we can to gain as much information as possible on our opposition. They will be determined to try to stop us.

“Our job is to impose ourselves on them and create an atmosphere and football environment that’ll make it difficult for them.”

Postecoglou knows his side are going through a sticky patch but insists he has experienced tougher periods before in his career and reckons the club’s supporters remain fully behind him to rectify their poor run of form.

He admitted: “My general feeling is the supporters are totally understanding of our situation. They’ve been very supportive of me from day one and I haven’t sensed a shift in that.

“Sunday’s game was probably the most disappointed they’ll have been in our performance, but I think we all know it was never going to be a quick fix.

“We can’t get caught up in outside timelines and what expectations are from various people who are going to be critical of what we do. We must stand up to that.

“Internally, we know what we’re trying to do. We’re starting on a road to becoming a certain style of football team. I have belief and confidence in this group.

Postecoglou continued: “I know as a manager we’ve all got our individual challenges. It would be great to have a full complement of players. We’re obviously missing our skipper and top goal scorer.

“You can start to think these things are piling up against you or you can see it as an opportunity to build resilience.

“If we can get through this period and come out with positive outcomes then that means things will settle down, and they will settle down.

“It’s a very unusual period. I’ve been through periods in my career where there’s a lot of disruptions and very little chance to settle, but they always pass.

“The key thing is that we stay strong, calm and clearly know what our objectives are.”

Asked whether having such a busy fixture schedule, while trying to build a team and bed in new players, has been helpful Postecoglou replied: “It depends. At the moment, it’s probably not because we’ve got a very limited number of players to call on.

“We’re calling on the same players all the time and I think that’s had an effect on some of the injuries we’ve picked up.

“In the current state of our squad, you’d say it would be better if we didn’t have these midweek games, but the reality is we do have them and we’ve just got to focus on performing to the best of our ability.

“I always thought this initial period was always going to be a bit of a rollercoaster for us in terms of results, but we’ve got to maintain our resolve.”