Ange Postecoglou has hailed the squad depth he has at his disposal at Celtic as he opened up on Reo Hatate's injury plan .
The Hoops travel to Ross County today in what could be a tricky Dingwall showdown. The Japanese midfielder has been a key man at Parkhead since his arrival in January but had to be replaced in the season opener with Aberdeen last week.
Aussie boss Postecoglou won't risk the midfielder against the Staggies and has decided to leave him at home - but everyone else is fit and available for selection. That depth has been hailed by the Celtic boss as a 'luxury' as he revealed the likes of David Turnbull, Matt O'Riley and the rest of his side WON'T be forced to play 50 games this season. Ahead of today's second Premiership game of the new campaign, the Hoops gaffer said: “It’s all good, apart from Reo. He got a couple of knocks last week and a bit of a muscle strain, so we held him back this week for a bit of rehab.
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“There were a couple of hard tackles and some clashes he didn’t come out of too well. He’ll miss this game but everyone else is OK.
“We have the luxury of having the squad now that means we don’t need to risk or push players too much.
“We have no midweek games right now so we can give them the rehab, be conservative with them and get them right.
“He (Turnbull) will have a strong year this season but he won’t play 50 games, Matt O’Riley won’t play 50 games, none of them will play 50 games. The whole idea in the way of setting things up this year, particularly in midfield, is we have depth.
“That is so we can make sure that guys don’t get overburdened. The problem with David last year is he played every game in the first half of the year and he ended up getting injured.
“The way we play is quite intense and it takes its toll, physically and mentally.
“So I don’t have a first XI, I don’t have a set midfield three and then another one. What I do have is players who can play in those areas and I want to get the maximum out of all of them.
“The only way I can do that is by keeping them fresh for when they are needed.”
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