Ange Postecoglou hopes that his Celtic team gain much-needed confidence from their victory against Jablonec in the Czech Republic last night.
Goals by Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, James Forrest and Ryan Christie helped Celtic to established a comfortable lead after the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie.
Postecoglou, who gave Furuhashi and Joe Hart their first starts, was disappointed that his team did not build on a promising start, but it is his first victory since taking over as manager in the summer.
“The result is a positive one,” he said. “I think it’s important, particularly for the players who have been working hard. Every competitive game, we have had an opportunity to win, and we haven’t done so. It is reward for the players. Hopefully it gives them some confidence and belief moving forward.
“The performance was OK. We started really well. The first half-hour was excellent. We controlled the game, scored our goals and created some more chances to score. I just felt we lost our way a little bit after that. We didn’t control the game the way we should have to make sure we won the game more comfortably.”
Advertisement
Some of Celtic’s defending was poor, but Postecoglou stressed that it was still early for his new-look team, which included four recent signings. Hart and Furuhashi were joined by Carl Starfelt and Abada in a starting line-up that did not include Odsonne Édouard.
“We had Kyogo’s first start, Joe Hart’s first start, Carl’s second start,” Postecoglou said. “There’s a whole range of reasons why the cohesion isn’t quite there yet. This group has been together for maybe ten days. So I don’t want to be too hard on the players. But at the same time I want to make sure we are really honest with our analysis of our games. We had a very, very good 35 minutes but after that, we can improve.”
Postecoglou was pleased by the character shown late in the game, when Jablonec pulled one back, only for Christie to restore Celtic’s two-goal lead near the end. “It would have been very easy for us to resign ourselves that, at 3-2, that was enough,” he said. “But we went up there and scored a fourth. I think that’s in the group. I can definitely see that. They have that resilience, that want and desire to be strong. We just have to be smart about how we do it.”
Postecoglou said that Hart would need time to adjust to the way Celtic defend, but he was full of praise for Abada, who could have scored more than his early goal. The young Israeli winger also scored on his debut against Midtjylland.
“Right from then first game, he has been really bright,” Postecoglou said. “For a young player, he’s got great composure, particularly in that front area. He’s got some intelligent movement. He scored a good goal and could have had a couple more. I’m pleased for him. He’s only 19. It’s his first time playing abroad. He’s been thrown in. I think there is more to come from him.”
