Postecoglou can’t wait to sample the big atmosphere of a Hampden derby

ANGE POSTECOGLOU says he can’t wait to finally immerse himself in the experience of a proper Old Firm derby atmosphere at Hampden next weekend. The Celtic boss has managed in three matches against Rangers this season, losing his first at Ibrox before winning the last two to help open up a healthy lead at the top of the Premiership table.

Next weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final stands apart from those encounters because it will be played on the neutral territory of Hampden, with an even split of supporters in attendance.

Rangers’ decision to dramatically reduce Celtic’s allocation at Ibrox in 2018 led to a reciprocal move that has skewed the subsequent atmosphere in favour of the home teams.

The first two games this season were watched in front of home fans only, then Celtic had a tiny following inside Ibrox to witness their team’s 2-1 victory last Sunday.

Having watched his players handle that partisan Old Firm occasion, Postecoglou (below) is looking forward to next Sunday’s one-off showdown. And he hopes it provides the basis for the clubs to rethink their future ticketing policy.

He said: ‘It will be unique but it will be great. So far we have just had a taste of what it can be. Our 700 were pretty loud the other day and did a fantastic job supporting us.

‘Hopefully, we will get increased numbers in all the derbies. The Hampden experience will hopefully encourage people to look at that because there is no doubt that in every game if you can have a fair share of supporters from both sides, it adds to the event.’

Having moved nine points clear at the top of the league table and already banked the League Cup earlier in the campaign, next Sunday could see Celtic move tantalisingly close to securing a clean sweep of Scotland’s domestic honours.

However, Postecoglou does not want overconfidence to set in.

‘We have been in good form for a very long time and you take confidence from that as a group,’ he said.

‘But with cup semifinals, you know it doesn’t matter what form you are in — it doesn’t matter what has happened the week before and it doesn’t matter what has happened in the previous encounter. It is a one-off game. There is going to be an edge to it, the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable. Wow.

‘So those kind of things become secondary. You just know it is going to be a really tight contest and we will be ready for it.

‘We have been good all year in rising to whatever challenge is in front of us and this is another one.

‘We will all be excited about being part of it and hopefully successful.’

The darker side of the Glasgow fixture emerged last weekend with two alleged bottle-throwing incidents from the Rangers crowd.

One resulted in a delay to the second half as Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart’s penalty area was cleared of broken fragments of glass.

And a member of Celtic’s backroom staff received stitches to a head wound following an alleged incident.

Postecoglou says he will trust the police and authorities to ensure the safety of his players, staff and indeed the spectators who will attend next Sunday.

‘I am sure the authorities are well aware — you rely on the people who are responsible for those kind of issues to have control.

‘It is not something I am going to spend too much time thinking about because there are people who are much better informed to make sure that doesn’t happen.

‘It is not just for the players but for the supporters, too.

‘When I look around grounds there are a lot of families, a lot of young kids there. We want to be able to say the atmosphere at these games is second to none and people leave the stadium — irrespective of the result — knowing they have been part of something big and special.

‘There is no point in us getting emotional about it in that moment. We have to rely on the authorities, the people who are in charge, to make sure they are in control of things.

‘If it ever feels like it is out of control then we will try and address it ourselves as participants, but ultimately our role is to make sure we don’t add fuel to the fire and that we don’t exacerbate things by becoming emotional at that time.

‘We have a group of players who handled it really well the

other day.’