CRISTIAN Gamboa, the Celtic right back, claimed last night that having a strong squad has been the secret to the the Parkhead club’s record-breaking unbeaten start to the domestic season.
Gamboa came in for the injured Mikael Lustig in the Ladbrokes Premiership win over Hamilton at Parkhead on Saturday and helped his team to triumph 2-0.
The comfortable victory over the bottom-placed team in the division stretched their undefeated run to 32 games and extended their streak of league wins to 21.
The Costa Rican internationalist hasn’t been a regular starter for Brendan Rodgers’s side – but he believes having decent options on the bench has been crucial to their success.
“I came here because I want to play,” said Gamboa. “I want to show everyone I can play at a good level. But the gaffer wants a good squad. It is a good squad and it is a big squad.
“When somebody drops out another person will do his best. I think this is the key. We have this run, we have gone unbeaten in a lot of games, because it is a good squad and everybody is ready to play.
“For me, I just try to train hard every day. The gaffer has the decision on who is going to play who is going to sit on the bench. You have to be ready.”
Gamboa added: “We don’t talk about the run. As a group, we don’t think about the record, we don’t think about how many games we have gone unbeaten. We just try and get the three points and go further and further up the table.
“I think this is the key to success. Before every game the gaffer tries to get everyone in the same mindset – to do whatever it takes to win the game. This is the key. We keep winning.”
Gamboa, who joined in a £1 million transfer from West Brom back in August, revealed that Celtic’s run this season had been making headlines back in his native Costa Rica.
He said: “Costa Rica is a football country and all the players who play outside of the country get a lot of stuff written about them.
“Everyone back home is impressed with how we are doing and asking how we do it. It’s good. The people realise Celtic is a big club doing well in the Scottish league so I think everyone is interested in this.
“I tell the people back home it’s down to the human beings we have in our squad.”
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