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Ange Postecoglou believes challenging his Celtic players on a daily basis and making them constantly unsure of their position is the best way to steel themselves for a test like Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tynecastle.
Celtic edged a seven-goal thriller against Hearts on their previous trip to Gorgie in a game that swung one way and another and saw the visitors concede two penalties and be denied one of their own in the second domestic Scottish football game to feature VAR technology.
An away game against Hearts in front of a 20,000-crowd packed close to the pitch is one of the major tests of character in Scottish football but Postecoglou is not relying on his players digging deep into hidden reserves of mental strength.
“What’s important about that is that you do it constantly,” said the Celtic manager, who rated Daizen Maeda as a 50-50 chance of featuring after the Japan forward picked up a knee knock in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the same opposition in a Parkhead league encounter.
“You can’t just do these things in the big games or games with consequence. It’s not like a tap where you can turn it on and off.
“Having a strong mindset, having a real belief in something, that needs to be worked on on a daily basis.
“Wednesday night we needed to show a strong mentality because, especially the first half, we weren’t as fluent as we usually are, and with that kind of scenario it would have been very easy for guys to go away from what we do and maybe try individually to change the course of what we are doing.
Daizen Maeda is “50/50” after injury against Hearts in midweek
“We have been consistent for a very long time performance-wise and results-wise and it’s because the lads show a strong mindset on a daily basis so, when game time comes around, it’s part of who they are and part of what they do.
“If you are waiting for a big game to show that character or mindset then I just don’t think it works, you are going in there under false pretences that somehow you can whip something out that you don’t use on a daily basis just because it’s a big game.”
Spurs link ‘doesn’t affect me’
Ange Postecoglou insists he does not pay attention to speculation about his future
Postecoglou was disinterested in reports from England that he was on a five-man shortlist that Tottenham are allegedly compiling in the event of under-pressure head coach Antonio Conte losing his job.
“I don’t look at it at all, it’s just not of interest to me,” the former Australia head coach said. “I don’t wake up and get a daily briefing on the latest gossip, whether that’s football or non-football related.
“I get up every morning and come to work and deal with what’s in front of me.
“The rest of it doesn’t mean anything to me, doesn’t affect me, doesn’t affect the people around me.
“Like most things, people want to have something to talk about and they pick things that are fairly obscure and you can run with without worrying too much whether there is actually any evidence behind it.”
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