Ange Postecoglou never doubted Aaron Mooy’s ability to fit in with his energetic young Celtic side.
At the end of July Celtic gave the free agent a two year contract which suited the Glasgow-based midfielder perfectly as he chased fitness for a place in Australia’s World Cup squad.
The benefits to Celtic seemed less obvious with a midfield already packed with talent led by Callum McGregor. With Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, David Turnbull and James McCarthy around it seemed to be an area of the squad well covered.
Leggy was a regular description of Mooy’s early appearances, almost all from the bench, starting his first SPFL match at St Mirren last month he was substituted at half-time.
Callum McGregor’s injury has created am opening in the Celtic midfield, after initially going with Sead Haksabanovic and Matt O’Riley taking a step back Mooy started against Hibs, showing the Celtic support the influence that he can have.
Explaining the role of Mooy and touching on Oliver Abildgaard, Postecoglou told the Daily Record:
I never expected guys like Aaron and Oliver to come in without a pre-season and be ready to go.
There was always going to be a period of time for them to get ready. Aaron missed pre-season but he also hadn’t played a competitive club match since January. The only competitive games had been with Australia, so it was totally different for him, especially with how we want to play.
We knew it would take time for Aaron but I know the player well, and I know the person. I was always confident he would find his feet from a physical perspective. The talent is there and the technical ability is there, so he just had to get up to speed. Aaron will be a big contributor for us.
At 5pm tonight we will find out if Mooy is in from the start for the League Cup tie at Motherwell.
