Postecoglou: Raith a threat despite off-field issues

Ange Postecoglou expects Raith Rovers to brush off their recent troubles and give his Celtic side the toughest of challenges in the Scottish Cup.

Raith attracted unwanted worldwide publicity for the signing of David Goodwillie last week before announcing they would not play the striker, who was found by a judge in 2017 to have raped a woman.

Manager John McGlynn this week apologised for the "enormous" mistake but the impact on the club has been major with sponsors pulling out, some supporters and the women's team turning their back on the club and a large number of employees and volunteers quitting.

However, Postecoglou insisted his team could not afford to assume that Rovers would be anything but fully focused.

"What we're expecting is that they are going to come and give us a tough challenge," said Postecoglou, whose side beat 10-man Raith 3-0 in the Premier Sports Cup.

"They will see it as a club as an opportunity to knock off one of the big clubs in the competition and we have got to be ready to face that.

"From our perspective, it's preparing for an opponent in a football sense.

"All these other things that happen at all clubs for different reasons, some football-related some not football-related, if you fall into the trap that that's going to affect on-field performance, then you are disrespecting what they can bring.

"We always prepare the same way and we are expecting Raith to come here and be at their best and give us a challenge that we have got to be at our best to overcome."

Raith's decision to ignore warnings over a backlash and sign former Scotland striker Goodwillie from Clyde came amid an eight-game run without a victory in the cinch Championship, which has seen them drop to fourth.

McGlynn has the task of ripping