Sid Haksapanovic was not deterred in front of the Serbian “derby” after the move of Celtic

The Celtic striker will be under pressure to help Montenegro, who have never reached the finals of a major tournament, to start their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a winning start against Bulgaria in Razgrad on Friday night.

A Group G meeting with Serbia, who played alongside his adopted home country as well as declaring independence in 2006, in Podgorica a week today would also be an interesting outing for the Swedish-born footballer.

However, the 23-year-old, 29-year-old, who scored another fine goal in the 3-1 victory over Hibernian at Parkhead on Saturday, is confident he will be able to handle anything that comes his way.

Since joining the Scottish champions from Russian side Rubin Kazan in August, Haksapanović has featured in Champions League matches against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk as well as in the Viaplay Cup final over Rangers at Hampden.

He believes that those and similar experiences have prepared him for anything.

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“I always feel glad to be gone,” he said after Hibs’ victory at the weekend. “It’s a little change and the weather will be mostly warm. It’s always good to go away, see different faces and have a different energy.

“It’s a great spell coming in. Some playing time in my legs is always good. You get better the more game time you get. Hopefully I can start one game and play 90 minutes.

“There are some big games coming up with Celtic. But for now, I’m just concentrating on the national team and trying to come back with a little more confidence. We’ll talk about what happens next when he comes.”

Haksapanovic added, “Serbia can be a fun game. It will be the first time I play against them. I’m looking forward to it. It’s always good to play in a derby or a big game.”

“I haven’t played for the national team. I think it will be good and the atmosphere will be good. But I don’t think you can beat the atmosphere at Celtic Park.”

Celtic fans inside the packed Parkhead are getting more and more restless as the clock ticks in the second half of Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Hibs. Ange Postecoglou’s side were tied at 1-1 as Lee Johnson’s side entered the closing stages.

But Hyun-kyu Oh headed home a David Turnbull corner with nine minutes remaining, then Haksapanović edged past David Marshall in stoppage time to make it three more points and restore Rangers’ nine-point lead at the top of the table.

Former Halmstad players, West Ham United, Malaga, EFK Norrkoping, Rubin Kazan and Djurgendense were always confident that his team would prevail. He’s seen them do this on countless occasions in the past seven months and thinks it’s a formidable force.

“Hibes made it difficult for us,” he said. “They scored and then slowed the game down. But we managed to focus on what we had to do and we did it well and got the win in the end.

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“Our mentality is very good on the field. We believe in the way the manager wants us to play and he wants us to do things and we believe in each other because we know we have a good level.

“We have a quality that can do something in the last minutes and maybe score a goal or provide an assist. We know that everyone in the team wants to do that.”

The bench Postecoglou dumped Hibs in the second half – he reenergized his side with Lille Abada, Alexandru Bernaby, Haksapanovic, Oh and Turnbull – eventually earning a tough three points that put Rangers back nine points at the top. from the table.

“We have such a big team,” said the Montenegrins. “We can put any player out there and they will do well. It doesn’t matter if we start or come off the bench, we all want to play and we want to show the manager that we want to play and help the team.

“I focus on trying to score or assist. This is my game and that’s what I want to do. I was very happy to score at home. I haven’t scored in the first leg yet, but hopefully that will come. I’m enjoying myself here in front of our fans.”

“Forwards get more chances here than they did at my last club. We play in such a way that our strikers get more one-on-one chances and do the things we love. I’m enjoying my time here. I like the way we play so I would say to a striker like me It’s very good to be here.”

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Oh, the South Korean international, who joined Celtic on a £2.5 transfer from Suwon Samsung Bluewings in his home country in January, is certainly enjoying his new surroundings, and Haksapanović enjoys playing and training with the powerful Predator.

“He’s a very good player,” he said. “He scored some goals and showed he’s a very good player. But he’s a better guy. He likes to talk to everyone, he has good English, he’s trying to get into the team and I think he’s very happy here.”

Celtic supporters were extremely unhappy with the penalty, duly converted by Josh Campbell, which was awarded to Stephen McClain Hibs after a VAR check six minutes before half-time. No less than seven of the 21 goals they have conceded in the Premier League this season have come from penalties.

But the match official was right. Paul Hanlon’s shirt was pulled by Karl Starfelt as his teammate in the middle of the field tried to win the ball in his own area. The Swede’s actions could have cost his team dearly if there hadn’t been another reboot of The Late Late Show at Parkhead.