Rangers boss Michael Beale has told Monday’s press conference – on Rangers’ official website – that having watched Celtic on Sunday, he noticed the patience that Ange Postecoglou has instilled in his side when in the final third.
Celtic looked as though they were going to drop points away at Aberdeen. Their first game back, Rangers had beaten Hibernian and were hoping the Hoops would slip up. But as he often does, captain Callum McGregor was on hand.
He scored in the 87th minute to secure a 1-0 win for Celtic away from home. A very important victory, given Rangers now have to go to Pittodrie and try to do the same. That is, despite Beale’s enormous injury list. Steven Davis the latest.
The midfielder has been sent for a scan and is unavailable after coming off the bench on Thursday. Antonio Colak, Ianis Hagi, Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, Kemar Roofe, Filip Helander, Borna Barisic and Ridvan Yilmaz remain sidelined.
Connor Goldson and Leon King are back in the squad, while Ben Davies will have trained more. They could come in in the middle of the defence on Tuesday. But they will do well to match Celtic’s result – with Beale notably impressed.
“I watched the game. You saw all the patience and the work that Ange has done with Celtic in the last year in terms of how they played, how they were patient. You saw an Aberdeen team that had a game plan and almost executed it.”
Rangers boss Beale noticed patience Postecoglou has instilled in Celtic
For Postecoglou to have got his Celtic players playing his system to a tee within 18 months is quite incredible. Every player knows what is asked of them. They are given the freedom to roam, but remain defensively solid at the back.
Rangers play host to Celtic at Ibrox on January 2 and Beale will be desperate to have some of his injured players back. Colak is expected back on Friday against Motherwell, as is Barisic. Two huge boosts moving forward.
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