Winger Sead Haksabanovic has revealed he resisted the temptation to call up his old Celtic pals for information on Rangers before Malmo’s Europa League opener.
The 25-year-old permanently left the Scottish Premiership behind for the Swedish champions last summer – having been shipped out on loan to Stoke City by Brendan Rodgers in the previous campaign following complaints from the wide man about his lack of game time on social media. Haksabanovic will sit out the clash with Philippe Clement’s side through injury – but will hope to use his experience of previously facing Rangers to his benefit.
However, speaking to Football Scotland, the Montenegro international revealed he had not reached out to anyone at Celtic for the inside track on their Glasgow rivals. He said: “I’m still injured unfortunately because I would want to play. If we do everything correctly, listen to the manager and follow the game plan that we have, then we can have a good night tomorrow.
“I haven’t really spoken to anyone at Celtic. I believe in what we have here. It’s all about discipline, we know we can do it so we have to do it.
“Not just for me, but it would mean so much for the whole club. To have a good start in the Europa League would be so good. We need that confidence right now. We had a good game at the weekend in the league.
“We won 4-0 at home against a good team so we have good confidence coming in. But I think with a win tomorrow, it would be very good for us.”
And despite a sour ending to his time in Glasgow’s east end, Haksabanovic insists he has fond memories of his time in green and white. He said: “The derbies were unbelievable. It surprised me in a good way.
“The atmosphere was crazy and when you play for Celtic you get to know more about the derby because when you look from the outside, you know a little bit. But when you play for Celtic you get to know it more and understand it more.
“Even tomorrow, it’s going to be a special game for me because I played for Celtic and I’m all for Celtic. Of course, I want to win tomorrow and it’s also special because I played for Celtic and I want my team to win and start the Europa League in a good way. I should have scored in the [2023] League Cup final… it was good that we won!”