Ange Postecoglou insists Celtic have the key to continue their successful season and admits the hectic schedule doesn't faze his side.
The Hoops boss will be relishing a return to league action as his side sit top of the Scottish Premiership table by six points over rivals Rangers and have lost just once in the first half of the season. Aberdeen awaits in the cold conditions of the North East on Saturday but Postecoglou has a squad well warmed up with key stars Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers back available and World Cup men Daizen Maeda and Aaron Mooy fit.
Celtic, like rivals Rangers, are out of European competition and Postecoglou believes this will benefit his squad as the schedule cannot be as demanding as it was prior to the World Cup break. The Australian is also keen to stress that, while Jim Goodwin's side will present a challenge, the Hoops have an almost-unblemished away league record under his tenure.
He told the club's website: "We’ve been back for a couple of weeks. We had a good week in Portugal and a good week training here, and we’re ready to get going again. It’s always a tough game at Aberdeen. Even last year we won there twice but both of them were tough games, so you expect a tough game.'
“Their home form’s been great but I think it’s probably been missed by a few people but our away form’s not bad either, so there’s a bit in there as well. We obviously had a really strong start to the season in the league, and the key to that now is to keep improving and I don’t think there’s any reason why we shouldn’t.
“Our league form’s been very strong even though we had a really hectic schedule, including Champions League games, going into the break. So whilst the schedule is just as challenging moving forward, we don’t have that challenge of Champions League football and we’ve got a couple of players back from injury as well, which I think will hopefully make us stronger moving forward.”
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