Celtic got pre season underway with a narrow 1-0 win in Austria on Wednesday.
Erik Sviatchenko has told Celtic’s official website that the turnout for a recent friendly in Austria proves how big the club is.
The Scottish champions got their pre-season campaign underway with a 1-0 victory away to Blau-Weiss Linz on Wednesday night, with James Forrest netting a late winner.
Rangers’ Martin Waghorn in action with Celtic’s Erik Sviatchenko
Celtic’s official website reported that a “healthy contingent” of travelling fans were in attendance, and the big centre-back, one of 10 half-time changes by manager Brendan Rodgers, says that such support is a glowing indictment for how well-supported the Bhoys are.
“It was nice to see the fans – and some of them were Austrian as well – and it just shows that Celtic is everywhere,” he said.
“It was good to be back playing football against a team – more than just training. Everyone played 45 minutes, so it was a good start.
“This is what we need to do to be at our best, to prepare and develop our match fitness, so we take every single game in pre-season as a very important game and, from there, we keep pushing on.”
Jonny Hayes, a £1.3 million signing from Aberdeen, made his debut for the club and played 45 minutes; so too did Anton Rodgers, son of Brendan, but the Celtic manager confirmed via The Scottish Sun afterwards that he would not be signing the former Swindon midfielder on a permanent basis.
The treble winners now gear up for a clash with Austrian giants Rapid Vienna on Saturday.
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