Fran Alonso was confident his players could follow up on their Glasgow Derby win from midweek when they face Hibernian this weekend and said Celtic were fully prepared for whatever style of play their opponents utilised.

The Celtic women’s team return to league action this Sunday (April 25) when they host Hibernian at the K-Park Training Academy in East Kilbride. The game comes four days on from Celtic’s impressive 1-0 win over Rangers at Paradise and Fran Alonso said the result has given his players a valuable confidence boost going forward.

“The whole team deserves credit for the way they defended and the belief they showed,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of every player for the impact, desire and passion they showed. It gives us confidence that even when we’re not dominating the game and don’t have long periods of possession, we’re still in the game to fight.

'We are a team with a clear identity but one of our biggest attributes is that we are adjustable.'

We can control games without dominating possession. I wouldn’t say we completely controlled the game on Sunday but we controlled the most important metric which is the final score.

“After a huge win, you need to refocus the team. We’ll treat this game against Hibs as a final and that for me, as a manager, is my main objective. We need to make sure we show the same fight and desire as we showed on Wednesday. Often after a huge game, it’s harder to focus but with the state of mind that the players are in now, I’m sure we’ll have a good game on Sunday.”

The Celtic Women’s manager said he anticipated a difficult game against Hibs but he added Celtic would be able to play through whatever challenge Hibernian threw their way.

“Hibs are playing good football and creating chances to score,” he said. “They’re a good team and mathematically they can still qualify for the Champions League and win the league.

“They’ve been successful in the last two games by having a medium to low block and making themselves very difficult to break. We’ll be prepared for them if they play like that or a high press. We’ll have a plan A and B and that’s an attribute of this team.

“We’re comfortable dominating and dictating the tempo but if there are spells where the opposition are good in possession, we’re very solid and focused on our defending. The tactical knowledge of the players is good and we’ll try to maximise our opportunities depending on what the opposition does.”

Fran Alonso: Players are ready to build on Glasgow Derby win when they face Hibs