Haksabanovic starts for Celtic against Shakhtar in Champions League

Ange Postecoglou has named his starting line-up for the group stage game in Warsaw.

Sead Haksabanovic starts for Celtic against Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League SNS Group

Sead Haksabanovic will make his first start for Celtic in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Manager Ange Postecoglou has named his side for the group game in Warsaw and new signing Haksabanovic has been included, playing in a front three alongside Kyogo Furuhashi and Jota.

Haksabanovic joined from Rubin Kazan towards the end of the transfer window and has only been used as a substitute so far, making late appearances against Ross County in the Premier Sports Cup and Real Madrid in the Champions League opener, which Celtic lost 4-0 to the trophy holders.

The Scottish champions are looking to get their first points on the board but will face a tough task against a Shakhtar side registered one of the surprise results from matchday one, when they beat RB Leipzig 4-1 in Germany.

Celtic will start with Joe Hart in goal, with Greg Taylor, Moritz Jenz, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Josip Juranovic in defence.

Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley make up a three-man midfield, with Haksabanovic, Jota and Furuhashi tasked with troubling Shakhtar’s defence.

In his pre-match media conference, Postecoglou had said that he wanted a full-game performance, after seeing the team concede a late flurry to Real Madrid after a strong first half.

“We want to compete at this level, that’s what you’ve got to do,” he said. “At this level 60 minutes is never going to be enough. You have to make sure you see the game out and be resilient when you need to.”

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