Journalist Stuart Hodge is confident that Ange Postecoglou will turn things around at Celtic.

The Hoops are currently sixth in the Scottish Premiership standings after suffering three defeats in their opening eight matches this season, whilst their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League are in serious doubt.

What's the latest news with Postecoglou?

It's certainly been a testing time since the Australian was confirmed as Neil Lennon's replacement over the summer.

His reign started disastrously when his Celtic side were knocked out of the Champions League before the season had even got underway, and it soon went from bad to worse when the Scottish giants suffered an injury-time defeat at Hearts in their Scottish Premiership opener in late-July.

Celtic repaired some of the damage by qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League and then recording consecutive 6-0 wins over Dundee and St Mirren.

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

But whilst Postecoglou's side have been scoring goals for fun, they've since suffered narrow defeats at Rangers and Livingston and despite picking up a crucial three points at Aberdeen last time out, they're already six points behind their Old Firm rivals, with their title hopes already looking slim.

Furthermore, Celtic have lost both of their Europa League group stage games, meaning they must collect maximum points in both games against Ferencvaros to have any chance of qualifying for the round of 32 stage.

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Despite the tricky start to his Celtic Park tenure, Hodge has full confidence in Postecoglou and has backed him to get it right.

What did Hodge say?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "Part of the Ange Postecoglou process and he pointed to it in his time in Japan – where there was the period where everyone doubted him and he said it's all part of the process, I will get this team to where I want to, and I still believe him when he says that."

Can Celtic mount a serious title challenge?

There's no doubt Celtic have enough quality in their squad to challenge Rangers, although there's already little room for error with the gap to the Gers currently six points.

When Rangers went top last season, they were relentless under Steve Gerrard and quite literally unbeatable.

Celtic have a favourable fixture list before the next Old Firm derby in early-January, but they simply cannot afford for that six-point gap to increase before Rangers visit Celtic Park in just under three months' time.