Ange Postecoglou won't flog Celtic stars after recruiting with rest in mind after hamstring hell

Ange Postecoglou says he won’t flog Celtic’s top stars like he did last season. The Parkhead gaffer admits he was forced to run Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota and David Turnbull into the ground when he first arrived at the club.

That led to the trio picking up injuries which kept them out for prolonged periods of the Hoops’ title winning campaign. Postecoglou insists it was a priority for him this summer to ensure that didn’t happen again.

After strengthening his squad ahead of Celtic ’s Premiership defence and a crack at the Champions League, he believes he’ll be able to protect his top players more. He also reiterated his desire to add more new faces before the transfer window closes on August 31. Before today’s curtain raiser against Aberdeen, Postecoglou said: “It’s fair to say that the key goal of our recruitment - outside of signing Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota - was to fill the gaps in our squad that meant some players were overburdened, particularly in the first half of last season. We paid a price for that both individually and as a team.

“Kyogo, Turnbull, Jota, quite a few of them missed chunks of the season because we were forced to play them relentlessly. Hopefully with the recruiting we’ve done and the availability of a stronger core group of players, we can manage that load a lot better.

“Because once the midweek games start, particularly with the physical and mental toll of the Champions League, we are going to have more than 13 or 14 players ready for that battle. I definitely feel we are better placed to tackle that now.

“We are still active (in the transfer market). There’s still three or four weeks of the window to go and I’m sure there will be some comings and goings. There’s nothing specific at the