MARTIN O’NEILL declared himself “happy” after being told he will be in charge of the team for Celtic’s Premiership encounter against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday night.
The champions have confirmed the Irishman, who has already had four comeback games since his dramatic return just over three weeks ago following the swift exit of Brendan Rodgers, will be in the dug-out alongside interim assistant Shaun Maloney against Steven Robinson’s outfit.
The 8pm kick-off will be a dress rehearsal for the Premier Sports League Cup Final between the clubs at Hampden on Sunday December 14.
HAPPY TO BE IN CHARGE…Martin O’Neill at Lennoxtown. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
Reacting to the managerial update with Frenchman Wilfried Nancy apparently still the frontrunner for the job on a long-term-basis, O’Neill said: “First things first, I enjoyed the couple of days off because it was a bit of a whirlwind fortnight beforehand.
“However, if there’s not an announcement now in the next few days, then I’m happy to still be here for the weekend game against St Mirren.
“First of all, we want the players coming back from international matches unscathed, which is the most important thing for us just now, now that we’ve got a few injuries to contend with.
“So, whatever sort of squad we had for the Kilmarnock game, I wouldn’t mind having roughly the same again.”
Following three successive domestic wins against Falkirk, Rangers and the Rugby Park side, O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “But we can only deal with what we have and what we want to do, and we just want to play as strongly as we possibly can.
“Let’s see what the next couple of days bring.”
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