Ange Postecoglou urges Celtic to give their fans some long-awaited derby cheer

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has urged his players to give their fans some long-awaited derby cheer.

Hoops fans have not been inside a stadium against Rangers since December 29, 2019 and they have not enjoyed victory over their rivals since the League Cup final earlier in the same month.

Rangers have won six of the subsequent seven meetings and a stadium full of Celtic fans will do their best to back their team to improve that record on Wednesday night.

Those fans got a pre-derby lift on Saturday when Liel Abada’s last-gasp winner against Dundee United saw Celtic cut the gap on the cinch Premiership leaders to two points following Rangers’ 3-3 draw with Ross County earlier in the day.

Postecoglou said: “Our supporters didn’t have the chance to watch a derby last season or at the start of this season so having a full Celtic Park welcoming them out will be great.

“It’s important particularly for our supporters because there’s no doubting that this is a fixture they look forward to and, particularly at home, they want to have an enjoyable night and that means us playing well and winning.

“The whole psychology of it, I have been around long enough to know that should we win the first question will be: ‘Does this mean you get complacent or some sort of edge?’.

“The reality is it’s an important game for us and this football club for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it’s important for our fans and, secondly, we have a chance to go top and climb up a position, which would be good.

“But after that we have to dust ourselves off and go again at the weekend.”

Celtic lost 1-0 at Ibrox in August following Filip Helander’s goal but Postecoglou’s team has developed since then.

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