Ange Postecoglou insists ‘perfect’ Celtic won’t allow themselves to become distracted from their Treble chase.
The Hoops boss rated his side’s climb to the Premiership summit after a poor start to the campaign as flawless as they moved six points clear at the summit with a clinical 4-0 dismantling of on-form Ross County.
A superb display, including a hat-trick by Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis, sunk the Staggies who had Kayne Ramsay sent off as all eyes now turn to Dens Park on Sunday as title-chasing Rangers attempt to close the gap.
But Postecoglou admits he’ll be channel hopping with his family rather than bothering with the drama on Tayside as he praised his players for staying on message. He said: “My Sundays are dictated by my wife and kids mate. If Sing 2 or something’s good on TV then we’ll maybe have a fight for the remote control.
“I get why people are focusing on that and asking the question.
“I only worry about what I can control and that was today.
“If we got three points today, why should we even bother about looking at anything else.
“We have to as a group be really conscious of the fact that any time we start thinking more than a day from where we are we can lose focus.
“Since round six we have literally had to be just about perfect to be where we are today.
“And to do that, any sort of distractions we have, had to be put to one side, regardless of other results or performances or people from the outside.
“The reality is every Celtic manager should start the season thinking they can win it all, that’s why we are here.
“My job is to try to get us to a position where we have the opportunity to do that.
“At the moment we have an opportunity to do that but we won’t achieve it if we start thinking about it now.
“Whatever happens, if it all goes well, it won’t be my achievement, it will be an achievement of every person at this football club and every supporter.
“Right from the start of this year, he club has been absolutely united in tackling what was always going to be a challenging season.
“I felt the whole club, fans, players, have all been in on this and it is why we are in the position we are in.”
Postecoglou welcomed back midfielder David Turnbull for the first time since he injured a hamstring against Hibs in the League Cup Final at Hampden back in December and insisted it’s given his squad a timely boost.
He said: “That was the plan today. He has worked hard in training in the last seven to 10 days. It was good to get him out there and he was pleased to get a run.
“Now it is a case of building him up.”
Celtic’s clinical showing against County is an ominous warning for a chasing Rangers side ahead of the Old Firm clash at Ibrox in two weeks’ time and Postecoglou believes it was a statement result.
He said: “I don’t think our players had lost ruthlessness but it’s very easy to succumb to anxiety at this time when the stakes are so high.
“It’s important that we keep playing our football and don’t shy away from that. That’s why it was important not just to win the game but to make a statement about playing our football against a side that has been in great form.
“We need to stay really strong in terms of our resilience and our commitment to what we’ve started to do.”
