‘Special night’ looms as Celtic aim to seal title

Manager Ange Postecoglou wants Celtic to make it a “special night” for their fans on Wednesday by clinching the Scottish Premiership title.

They can make it official with at least a point away to Dundee United, while defeat will be sufficient if Rangers fail to beat Ross County.

“Our role is to make sure we continue with our good form,” said Postecoglou.

“We have an opportunity to make it a special night for the football club and our supporters. I am sure they will enjoy it.”

Celtic finished 25 points behind Rangers last season, with the majority of games played behind closed doors because of Covid-19 restrictions, before Postecoglou’s arrival sparked a stirring revival.

The Greek-Australian is now on the brink of a double, having won the League Cup in December, in his debut campaign. Celtic are unbeaten in 30 Premiership games and have overhauled Europa League finalists Rangers, who held a six-point lead at the winter break.

“After last season’s disappointments, not just the fact that we obviously didn’t have success as a football club, the fans weren’t able to feel part of it, they couldn’t contribute as they weren’t allowed in the stadiums,” added Postecoglou.

“This year everyone has put in maximum effort, including our supporters. Everything they had pent up from last year they have released this year in a positive way.

“Thirty games ago, we were a fair way behind in terms of looking like a team who could end up being champions and so 30 games later, we have taken an approach that has got us to this point and if we start thinking about, ‘let’s extend it to 31 or 32’ – that has never been our goal.

“Our goal has been to be the best possible team we can be, play our football, respect our opponent, respect the occasion, be at our best – and even when we haven’t been, we still found a way to get the job done.”

Team news

Fourth-place Dundee United have plenty to play for too as they currently lead the three-club race for two Europa Conference spots. Head coach Tam Courts has vowed to utilise his squad as they balance the aim of getting something from Celtic with keeping players fresh for Saturday’s crucial trip to face Ross County.

Marc McNulty, Max Biamou (thigh), Ian Harkes (ankle) and Peter Pawlett (Achilles) have played their last games of the season. Calum Butcher won’t feature because of a personal issue.

Celtic have no fresh injury problems. Josip Juranovic is expected to miss out again but the full-back could be back for the last game of the season against Motherwell at the weekend.

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