Ange Postecoglou in revealing Celtic transfer update as he explains the Champions League factor driving signing policy

Ange Postecoglou was left impressed by his sides application during the first half of their pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers. And the Hoops boss believes his squad are well on track to be where he wants them to be come the first competitive game of the season in two weeks time.

Celtic recovered from a nightmare start, where they conceded within the opening 30 seconds, with Jota and David Turnbull giving Postecoglou's men a half-time lead before Ben Diaz fired home a late free-kick to level the scoring. It might've been a friendly but it was also the first time the home supporters had seen their side in action in ten weeks so there was that competitive edge between the Scottish Premiership champions and the English Championship outfit.

And speaking to Celtic TV, Postecoglou said: "It was not too bad. I thought the first half was good in terms of our competitiveness and our performance, both teams were at it and we conceded early but then we got a good grip of the game. In the second half it got scrappy but both teams made a lot of substitutions so it’s hard to get into the rhythm for the players coming on.

“So the second half wasn’t great as an overall exercise but that’s the challenge of these games. I thought the first half was reflective of the work we’ve done so far, but we’re still two weeks away from the season.

"We did a lot of work in Austria and here in Scotland and it’s now about getting the guys in the best possible physical condition for the first game. That means working hard in training and we showed in the first half we’re going well and the work we’re doing will bear fruit.

"We want as a group to be ready to go when we play Aberdeen here. How we get to that space is up to us. There’s a lot