Ange Postecoglou on Mark Lawwell's key Celtic transfer planning role

How much are you looking forward to getting to the World Cup break in a good position with your squad looking good? 

We still have two games to go starting with Motherwell away tomorrow. I think we have had a solid block of games and we kind of knew this period would be critical because of the number of games - not just us - but everyone has. Champions League results aside our performances have been really strong through that. Our league form has been excellent, and we need to finish it off and we need to get through the next two games nice and strong and continue to play good football and that gives us as chance to set ourselves up for the rest of the season.

You must be delighted that Aaron Mooy has been named in the Australian World Cup squad and there are seven Scottish based players in it. How good is that for Scottish football to see so many players being recognised?

It's good. It's good for the lads themselves. Most of them have come over from Australia recently in the last couple of years into the Scottish Premiership, and it is obvious that they have done well and they are getting recognised for that which is great and great for their clubs. I am delighted for Aaron and particularly with his recent form for us and he has been playing Champions League football and he's as ready as he will ever be for World Cup football which is going to be challenging in its own right. I am sure he is looking forward to it. With all our representatives they want to represent their country, but they are also representing us as a club, and it will be great to see them all on the world stage.

Does it start to influence your own selection when you know players are going to the World Cup and what's at stake for them and what the workload will be like?

No, not really. Our main focus is still on us. We've tried to maintain a level of performance by making sure we don't overburden any players. For the most part, we have done that. There are two or three that have probably played more than others, but for the most part, we have rotated the squad with performance in mind and it will be no difference these last two games. I will pick a team that I think will get the job done for us and give us the best chance of success and do the same thing on the weekend. You hope that the guys who are going away come through unscathed. It is one of these things in football you can try and protect players or protect them from anything happening, but something could happen in the first training session with their country. I think it's better we just go about our business as normally as possible. Even the players themselves who are going they would much rather go having played football and feeling good about themselves than going a couple of weeks without playing.

Team news for Motherwell is it just Callum McGregor that's missing?

Everyone else is okay. Actually, James McCarthy, unfortunately, picked up a hamstring injury in training a couple of days ago, which will mean he will miss out. It is quite a significant one. With the break coming by the time we restart, hopefully he is back training with the group. 

You have played Motherwell twice this season, the first game was quite close the second time you ended up quite comfortable winners what helped more in the second game, and how do you make sure that tomorrow's game is more like the latter and not the former?

You are looking at score lines but if you look at performances if we take our chances, we make the first game more comfortable, and I think that's what we have got to try and do tomorrow. We just have to play our football and try and dominate the game, create chances and take them. When we have done that this year, we've been hard to stop and sometimes this year we have dominated games and not converted that into goals which has allowed the opposition to stay in the game. From my perspective, all our performances have been pretty strong through this period apart from the St Mirren game when we did not perform anywhere near our levels but every other game, I think we have been pretty consistent and because of that our results have reflected that.

Does the gap at the top of the table give you confidence?

I do not know about confidence. If we keep performing the way we have been, then things will take care of themselves. It is not a matter of taking confidence from your ladder position as that would then mean if you were lower down, then you could not take confidence. You have to have self-belief when you play for this football club. So I do not think confidence comes into it. For us, what is important is our performance levels. We had a really strong start to the season. Our results and performances affect that, so we need to finish strong. There is still two-thirds of the season to go after the break, including both cups. In terms of the domestic season, we have a long way to go.

How much are you hoping to watch of the World Cup?

Hopefully, a bit. I have a six or seven-day break in there, so I am sure my wife will think of things for me to do with the kids. That might interrupt my viewing schedule. Obviously, I always take an interest in it after coaching at one previously. I will be following it closely as I can without neglecting my parental duties.

Does this break allow you more time to look at January signings?

No, not really. I said a couple of weeks ago that we have done our planning and we know what we need to do. We will remain alert till the window opens. The reality is Mark Lawwell has already completed a bulk of that work along with his department. I sort of come in at the tail end and look at what players fit. This time allows me to plan for the summer window rather than the January window, as a lot of work for that has already been done.

How big a boost is it for Aaron Mooy to be in the Australia squad?

It is fantastic for him. The key for any player going into a World Cup is you hope you are in good condition and playing well. I think Aaron came in really late and had not trained with the team for quite a long time. It was a matter of working through this period so we did not overburden him, where because of his lack of conditioning, he may have broken down, but also wanted to give him enough game time. I think he is in a good space, and physically, he is comfortable now as his football has improved. A World Cup is exciting for any player as he gets to play against the best in the world. I think with Aaron and Abildgaard with them coming in so late, our expectations were not that massive in terms of their contributions. But what they have contributed has been great, and hopefully, we will see that in the next part of the season.