Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou bats away Tottenham interest

Squad update?

Kyogo Furuhashi is progressing but not quite there. The plan is to get him out there tomorrow and see how he goes. I think he is doing some individual stuff this afternoon. He has progressed and he is bullish about playing. We will see it goes. Alistair Johnston is fine and Sead Haksabanovic is back. The only real absence is Aaron Mooy.

How much of a risk is it to play to Kyogo?

It is guided by him. We have done it in the past when he's had an issue with his shoulder. Last year's League Cup final, he went in with a hamstring that was not properly healed and he scored a couple of goals so I will be guided by him. He is very strong mentally, so if he gives us the green light then we will put him in there.

How excited are you by the chance to win a treble?

I am looking forward to it. I mean, it was the one trophy that escaped us last year and given the occasion, it is the last game on the calendar for us. Just to be a part of it was the first thing for us and we are excited about it. You want to win every trophy you are up for and we want to make it a truly special day. The players have been outstanding in maintaining a real focus that each game is important and that is what has got us to this place. After we won the league a few weeks back, it would have been very easy for them to let their minds wander a little bit but last week, you could see they are back-focused and ready to go.

What do you expect from Inverness, given they have not played for a month and are lower-league opposition?

It is not unusual for a lower-league side to make it deep into a cup competition. We have to put that to one side and realise that it is a cup final, irrespective of who you play or their form. I have said before that whatever your form is going into a cup final becomes really irrelevant as it is a one-off game. When you talk about a final and everything that it entails, we are expecting a tough one. I watched the semi-final and there was some really good football played. They were going really well in the league and, unfortunately missed out on the playoffs. I have no doubt that Billy Dodds will have them primed and motivated to create a real story for themselves. We need to be at our best to make sure that does not happen.

READ MORE: Postecoglou's pal on why he doesn't see him leaving Celtic for Spurs

Has any changed for you regarding the links with Tottenham ahead of the Scottish Cup final?

No. Somebody else was favourite last week. It doesn't register. I get all the interest and why people love to speculate on these things. We have worked really, really hard to get ourselves into this position. For me, to let my mind wander to anything else other than getting our team prepared for a big day on Saturday is just not who I am.

We spoke to Matt O'Riley and Alistair Johnston and they spoke about blocking out the noise. Alistair Johnston acknowledged that players can't ignore the TV. Do you have to do anything, in particular, to make sure interest stays on the cup final?

You make it sound like it is the first time it has happened to me. We've done this dance a few times this year. The players are well aware of where my thoughts lie. Whatever it is the players have been really good at blocking out the noise and are ready for a big game on Saturday.

How do you handle the speculation?

I handle it. You are asking this question as if it is the first time it has happened this year. I have handled it before. It does not enter my sphere of thinking as it is my role to make sure the players are prepared for whatever the next challenge is. If a cup final is not enough to draw all my attention to that then nothing will be.

I think it's fair to say that the levels were back where you would want them to be last weekend. Did you notice it in training, has there been that kind of extra spring in their step given there's such a big game this weekend?

To be fair, the training has always been good. I guess from my perspective I could have taken a couple of different approaches but when we beat hearts we were champions, we knew there were still 4 or 5 games to go. My view was that when somebody has such a real defined goal and they achieve it there's bound to be a let-down. You look at every team around Europe that wins with games to spare – invariably, there’s a drop-off. I try to counter that by being clever and changing the team around and I think all that did was disrupt the cohesiveness and our rhythm because the guys coming in, to be fair to them, hadn’t played for ages so it didn’t really work but in the back of my mind I always knew that the boys probably had trophy day and cup day as the days that they'd be switched on and ready to go and you saw on the weekend right from the first minute they were really determined to be at their best. There's nothing at training that’s changed it's just probably for the guys themselves. There's real clarity now about what they need to achieve.

Ange, you said that you’ve done this dance a few times before this season. You seem to handle the speculation really well. The difference this time is that the end of the season is just 3-4 days away. Have you spoken to the people above you, are you expecting to have a sit-down with them on Monday, perhaps at the end of the season and discuss your future here at the club?

No, because again, that would be me planning, organising, and thinking about things other than Saturday. I understand it. I understand you guys, that’s your job to ask these questions because that’s the role you're in but you're not invested in this football club like I am, like the players are, like our supporters are. For me, I woke up this morning thinking about one thing, the same thing I've been thinking about for the last seven days. I want to make sure that we play well in this cup final and make it a truly special season. I know this football club has had a lot of success recently - including trebles - but over the history of time, there aren’t too many that can claim to that. Not just for myself but for this football club, for some of these players, it may be the only one they get so we really need to focus on that.

A think a lot of the fans are anxious hearing all of this noise. Are you able to provide any sort of reassurance on being manager next season?

Yeah, so you’ve just ignored every other question that’s been said today and you're trying a different way. Good on you, well done. Again our supporters want to roll up on cup day and celebrate and make sure it’s a special day because anything I say now will mean absolutely zero if we don’t win on Saturday, I can tell you that. So that’s where my focus lies and my responsibilities. That won't change. I've been pretty clear on that and will continue to be clear on that. It’s a massive role to be manager of this football club and me to be dismissive of potentially our biggest game of the year is just not going to happen.

Were there any Scottish Cup finals that you would watch when you were younger?

Yeah, I always have. Back home, it was always English FA Cup followed by Scottish Cup. That was our Saturday night in May or June. We would religiously watch that. It was a bit of an event for us to sit around and watch those two games. Like I said, it's not just that it’s a cup final, it’s an occasion and it’s the last game. It's mostly about the whole ceremony of the day. You love to be a part of it – I didn’t watch it last year, so it goes to show you that I was still hurting from the fact that we weren’t there and now we are there. Because we are there we want to make the most of it.

READ MORE: Why Celtic board have trust to replace Postecoglou - if he goes

There's a lot of history with Inverness and Celtic…

So I have been told, mate, quite a few times…

Is that a warning?

It’s a cautionary tale, put it that way. It’s been mentioned to me a few times – I was aware of it anyway, of course. That’s what I'm talking about. When people think that I have other things on my mind that I would allow anything to enter the sphere where we’re not preparing ourselves for that occasion. I don’t want to be that story. I want it to have a different ending this time. I want us to be the winners and for us to claim the Scottish Cup, so that’s where my head is at.

Queues of thousands of Celtic fans as well waiting for tickets. Is that a string to your bow that you’ve got that acknowledgement when you walk?

Yeah, there's obviously some conjecture around Hampden as a venue but from my perspective, when we've been there because of the split in fans and the atmosphere, I've loved every game there. Obviously, we’re going to outnumber the Inverness fans, I'm certain the Inverness fans will do their best to be heard on the day. I love that colour, the fact that there is opposing fans in there. There's a lot of ceremony around FA Cups and it's going to be great and hopefully the weather is going to be good and it'll be a great occasion.

A chance to break a world record as well for the number of domestic trebles. Where would that rank in your personal achievements as a manager?

Well it's not my world record, so that’s the first thing. It is the clubs, so that’s on the back of other managers and players. That’s the responsibility you carry. Every time you achieve something at this football club, every trophy is marked and heralded in the right way and celebrated and as I said it's quite extraordinary when you think about having a quadruple treble in one space in time. You might see it over a 30 or 40-year span, but to see it in such a short space in time – our opportunity to bring in another one there – it is incredible – it's outstanding but we've got to do it, that’s the main thing.