Ange Postecoglou will lead his Celtic side into Wednesday night’s crucial meeting with FC Midtjylland on the back of a 6-2 defeat in this afternoon’s (Saturday’s) pre-season friendly against West Ham.

You can, of course, learn as much from a defeat as a win in football and although defeat is never palatable at Celtic, the manager knows many of his young side are going through a learning curve.

Speaking after the game, the Hoops boss said: “I think there were some positives but there are certainly some areas that were very disappointing. We didn’t really take the opportunity to test ourselves against a quality opponent.”

The Hoops started on the front foot against their English Premier League opposition and took the lead in the eighth minute through Callum McGregor after controlling much of the early play.

However, the visitors replied three times before the break, though, and on reflecting whether that was self-inflicted or due to organisational aspect across the pitch, the manager said: “It was a little bit of both. We started brightly enough, we started very well and created some good chances.

“We scored the goal and then we just seemed to make a mistake. Mistakes are going to happen but again the reaction to it wasn’t great.”

Now the Celts head to Denmark with the game finely poised following Tuesday night’s 1-1 tie at Celtic Park, and the manager is looking for a reaction from his team.

He said: “We have three or four days and it’s as much about the players as it is about us. My job is to continually work with them along with the staff to give them the tools they need.

“It’s about them as well, it’s about them growing and understanding what you can and can’t do out on the football field – and what approach you need to take. It’ll be as much about their response as it is about me giving them guidance moving forward.”

Manager looking for reaction from players heading into Euro tie