Sead Haksabanovic plots Rangers misery as ex Celtic star warns Malmo are brimming with confidence
Sead Haksabanovic has warned Rangers that Malmo are brimming with confidence ahead of Thursday's Europa League showdown.
The ex-Celtic winger moved to the Swedish champions earlier this summer but has recently been sidelined through injury. He won't be available tomorrow but after winning three of his four Old Firm encounters in Glasgow, Haksabanovic has full belief that his new club can get their European campaign off to the perfect start by downing the Light Blues.
In an exclusive interview with Football Scotland, Haksabanovic 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.
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"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!"
Hoops Treble-winner Haksabanovic is gutted that he'll have to watch the opening game from the stands but insists Malmo will be going all out for three points. The Swedes are flying at the top of the Allsvenskan and romped to an impressive 4-0 win over Hacken at the weekend.
Rangers are also building momentum after a shaky start to the season but Haksabanovic resisted the temptation of calling his old Parkhead pals for a tactical lowdown of Philippe Clement's side.
He added: "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."