ANGE POSTECOGLOU has backed his centre-back pairing of Moritz Jenz and Stephen Welsh to rise to the challenge of handling the star-studded RB Leipzig attack of Timo Werner and Christopher Nkunku, after Cameron Carter-Vickers was ruled out of tonight’s Champions League tie.
The Celtic manager was speaking in Germany ahead of the first match of a double-header against Marco Rose’s side over the next week, the outcome of which could have huge implications for their chances to reach the knockout stages of the competition for the first time since 2007.
Postecoglou has urged all of his Celtic players not to let that opportunity pass them by, but impressed upon Jenz and Welsh in particular that they have to make the most of the chance he will be handing to them.
“That’s what football is about,” Postecoglou said.
“Carl and Cam are pretty much mainstays for us. They have hardly missed a game. [Then] they have both had different issues. That’s meant that Welshy and Moritz have got an opportunity.
“It’s a great opportunity for them, a good challenge for them. A centre-half playing as a pairing requires understanding but in both games they have played so far they have got better at understanding each other’s movements.
“I am sure they are looking forward to it because they have got some real attacking threats tomorrow. They are both going to have to be on top of their games but we can help them with that.
“It’s great. how you can develop quickly.
“Nothing beats that kinds of experience, provided you go out there with a positive mindset and don’t let the game pass you by.
“It goes for a lot of our players. For most of them, it is their first experience of Champions League football. We are really big on making sure they don’t waste the experience and let it pass them by without making an impact.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou has decided not to appeal the red card shown to Callum McGregor in Saturday’s win over Motherwell, when the Celtic captain was ordered off for denying Ross Tierney a goalscoring opportunity in the dying stages of the game.
“No, I had a look at it on the replay and I think it’s fair enough,” he said.
“I said at the time that I thought maybe Welshy had some cover there, but I think it was a fair enough decision.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel