'There's your headline': Ange Postecoglou responds to Celtic 't word', not drawn on facing Rangers three matches in a row

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou allowed himself a mischievous riposte as to how the narrative around his team has changed over the course of the past six months that have witnessed a 30-game domestic unbeaten run in the aftermath of his team’s comfortable 3-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory away to Dundee United.

It was enquired of Australian as to whether, with his team top of the table, in the last four of the cup – where they have been drawn against Rangers – and the League Cup already banked, the “t word” entering his mind.

“At the start it was all trouble, now it is all treble. There’s your headline,” he said with a wince. “The important thing is that we are still in the competition and at this stage of the season we have given ourselves an opportunity for success. That is the expectation here. That expectation is on me and everyone at the football club. The players need to embrace that.

“We can’t think just because we have won a trophy already that it is going to be a good season. We want to win every competition we are in and given ourselves a chance to do that. Particularly at this end of the season and we have given ourselves a chance. It should also help with the confidence.”

The semi-final draw that has paired the Glasgow title rivals gives rise to the possibility that Celtic’s season could be shaped with three derbies instead a matter of weeks. They will meet at Ibrox in the cinch Premiership on April 3, while their Scottish Cup dust-up looks likely of being scheduled for April 17. The post-split fixtures will begin the following weekend, while the desire of the SPFL to avoid one of these games being a title decider in tight campaigns has tended to see their final meeting scheduled as one of the first top six