WINNING the SPFL Premiership player of the month award for November was recognition of Sead Haksabanovic’s improving form since arriving at Celtic, but the winger is confident that the club’s fans will see the best of him in the second half of the season.
Haksabanovic arrived in Glasgow a few days before the end of the summer transfer window, and missed out on a proper pre-season with his former club Rubin Kazan due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, keeping himself fit by training alone in Sweden.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has said he expects to see even further improvements from the Montenegrin international now that he has been able to go through a mini pre-season during the World Cup, and Haksabanovic agrees that the best is yet to come.
“All the players and the staff have helped me, not only on the pitch but only outside of the pitch,” he said. “That has made me more comfortable.
“It has been great to spend more time with them and to do other stuff [during the break], not only related to football.
“It has been good, and I’ve been able to see my family and the people I love too, so I’ve enjoyed it.
“Now I have more games in me than I had when I first came, so hopefully now that I am fitter I can be even better for the team. I am looking forward to the second part of the season.
“It is great of course that the manager has faith in me. The manager sees your qualities and he expects big things from me and the rest of my teammates.
“That just shows that I do have qualities, and it is really good to know that he believes in me.
“I’m enjoying my football and I’m loving being here. I love the way we play, the fans, absolutely everything. I’m just enjoying the whole experience.”
Haksabanovic credits the tight-knit atmosphere within the Celtic squad for their on-field success, and he has been delighted to see teammates Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic, Aaron Mooy and Daizen Maeda acquit themselves so well at the World Cup.
He says it is proof that there is world class talent within the ranks at Celtic.
“For sure, I would say that here at Celtic all the players have real quality and lots of ability to prove themselves at the top level in the world,” he said.
“I think they did really well. Daizen got a goal as well, so I’m really happy for him, and I’ve been watching Juranovic play, and he has been doing really well.
“Cameron played one game, but he was really good, he was brilliant. Then you have Mooy, he’s a smart player, he knows exactly what he is doing on the pitch, he’s been brilliant as well.”
His mind is back on domestic matters though for today’s visit to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen, and he acknowledges that it is a far from straightforward fixture to return to.
“It’s going to be a hard game,” he said. “Here in Scotland, you don’t have easy games, the games are always going to be difficult.
“I am expecting us to go out there though, give one hundred percent for the team and for ourselves, and hopefully we can have a good game.
“It is very important to show we won’t take our foot off the gas. I think every game from now until the end of the season will be very important, and hopefully at Pittodrie we can start with a with a win and then go on from there.”
