Ange Postecoglou on reception he expects in Rangers Bear Pit

How big a game is this for you, coming back here to the stadium and also in the context of the season? 

It's obviously significant for a couple of reasons. Obviously, the draw here was the one that was most of interest to me because of my history up here. I'm looking forward to it. It should be a good game and also, like I said, in the context of where we are in Europe, an important game for both clubs. A positive result gets you a good way through to the knockout stages, so I'm looking forward to it.

What kind of game are you expecting tomorrow night? How highly do you rate this current Rangers?

When I was up here, particularly in my first year, Rangers made the Europa League final, so I've got a pretty clear idea of how challenging it is to play them here in front of that crowd and the atmosphere. At the same time, it's exciting. I'm looking forward to the games and I'm sure the players are as well.

Do you think Rangers are a better team in Europe?

Obviously, the domestic season hasn't gone as well in the league anyway as they would have liked. But you can tell there's still the elements there of quality. They're in the cup final on the weekend and they've done really well in Europe. For us, it's a one-off game and in one-off games, you're always looking at how teams perform when they're at their best.  At their best, they've shown they're still a good outfield and obviously a good challenge for us.

The atmosphere was referenced there. Is that something you have to warn your players about? 

It's part of the experience. We played Galatasaray [away] last time and it was a pretty decent atmosphere as well. Again, you want to experience that. We've got a young team at the moment and I think the more we can expose them to games like this, the better it will serve us moving forward. If we get through to the knockout rounds, the other kind of games where there's going to be a pretty hot atmosphere and you've got to be able to handle all that. And also I think look forward to it because you want to play in big games like that.

You don't have problems to seek when it comes to injuries these last few weeks? How are you looking ahead of this one tomorrow? 

Not much better to be fair. Obviously, with the weekend's fallout, [Christian] Romero and [Micky] Van Der Ven we’re still getting some clarity around the prognosis - but they both picked up injuries and will keep them out again. So that's disappointing for us because obviously, we're pretty thin on numbers. But we've had to deal with that for quite a while now and everyone else from the weekend got through okay. [Rodrigo] Bentancur is obviously available, he's been suspended so at least we'll get him back.

How frustrating is it, this injury crisis?

It's challenging. We've obviously also got Ben Davies out who has played a big part for us while the other two have been out. It's no secret we're thin on numbers both squad-wise and position-wise. But it is what it is and we can't change that. We've got some big games coming up starting tomorrow and we'll have to deal with it with what we've got. I'm still very confident we'll be able to get the job done with the players that are out I suppose.

Your memories here managing when you were the Celtic boss and what kind of reception are you expecting tomorrow? 

I think you know what kind of reception I'll get. I loved it. It was different experiences, mixed. I think the first one we were here we lost and then the next one when we only had 500-600 in the building we won and that was pretty special. But I've enjoyed all the games against Rangers, all the derbies, the big games here at Scotland obviously and usually very significant games. They're either title deciders or cup knockouts. So they're always big games and I enjoyed them all. I enjoyed the atmosphere. Obviously European nights here, it's going to be something you want to be a part of and hopefully overcome. 

Is this the worst injury crisis you've ever faced?

Yeah. When you've had it two seasons in a row as well.

Do you just see it as bad luck or do you have to look at all the possible factors?  

I never think it's just bad luck. I mean some of it is. I've never lost a goalkeeper for this period of time. I've had other issues that we've had. But some of it is reoccurring and particularly this year in terms of the guys coming back and sort of re-injuring. So it is stuff we're looking at and we're always trying to explore whether we can do things better. I think last year was a bit different from this year. Last year we kind of hit us across the board.  This year it's more of a case of guys who are coming back that are more affected. Not going to lie, we've got a core in the group who have been playing a hell of a lot and are getting through it okay. But it is something we're trying to address.

And just with Christian and Micky being out, this is obviously short for centre-back. Archie (Gray) came on and moved into centre-back. Is that the obvious solution? 

I have to get creative. I think Archie is probably the one for us at the moment that we need to try and get to fill in there. He's done right-back, left-back for us. He's had to play centre-back a little bit this year during the pre-season. Obviously, with him and Radu [Dragusin], they're the two main defenders, but we've still got five or six games to navigate. So obviously we may have to get creative at some point and deal with it in a different way.  

On the game and the atmosphere, do you relish walking into the bear pit? Do you like it? In a way, does it bring out more of you? 

I don't know if it brings out more of me. I'm like anyone else. I like a bit of love every now and then, but I do enjoy that. I always kind of reflect, and we've all lived it, is that once you experience football in empty stadiums, you realise how meaningless it is. I fell through that whole period. It was meaningless. As much as you go, you could be hostile tomorrow, but that's what we love about the game. That's what brings it to life, ultimately. It's a game that evokes passions and emotions. Sometimes that's not always positive. Like every human being, you'd love it to be positive, but it's not going to happen. But you definitely want that, as opposed to just playing a game somewhere sterile where you don't have that.