20 January 2022

Carl Starfelt does not see progress as a formality for Celtic

20 January 2022

Celtic defender Carl Starfelt is hungry for more cup success but past experience has taught him not to take Alloa lightly.

The former Gothenburg and Rubin Kazan centre-back collected a Premier Sports Cup winners’ medal last month as Ange Postecoglou’s new-look team celebrated silverware success at the first attempt.

Attentions now turn to the Scottish Cup with a trip to face Barry Ferguson’s Alloa in store for Celtic on Saturday.

Starfelt said: “One of the reasons many players come to this club is they hope to win stuff. We won our first trophy, so we are hungry for more.

“It’s the best feeling to win games but especially to win trophies. We will do our best to keep doing that.”

Starfelt admitted he had not had “too much” success in cup competitions before moving to Scotland.

“It’s always tough with the cup, whatever team you face it’s a one-off game so even against teams from lower divisions, it’s going to be a tough game,” he said.

“They will fight very hard for everything so you need to be really focused for every match. That’s my biggest experience, that over one leg anything can happen. So you really need to put in the work and do your best.”

Starfelt returned to action after the winter break in impressive form during Monday’s 2-0 win over Hibernian.

“I feel like I’m in good shape and I will just try to build on this performance and perform every game,” he said.

“The coach is very clear what he wants and I feel the team is playing well. We have a lot of confidence in the team and the players are getting into the style of play more and more. I am confident we will keep going like that.”

Starfelt’s central defensive partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers continues to develop and the Swede believes they are improving with each game.

“He’s a very good player, an easy player to play with, and I think we are getting better and better all the time,” Starfelt said.

“We have a very good connection on the pitch and also outside the pitch, we have good communication. I think we are doing well right now.”

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