MARTIN O’NEILL is well aware Celtic will have to perform a whole lot better in their next Premiership encounter than they did against Falkirk last night.
The interim manager will take the champions to Tynecastle for a crunch encounter against Hearts a week on Sunday – and it’s the ideal opportunity to cut the pacesetters’ lead to three points.
It would also stop the rot against Derek McInnes’ outfit who have beaten the title holders twice in this campaign.
Brendan Rodgers was in charge in his final Hoops game when the team meekly surrendered to an error-strewn 3-1 defeat in the capital in October.
Wilfried Nancy was the man in the dug-out on his Parkhead debut as Celtic turned in another mystifyingly timid display in a 2-1 home loss. It was one of the Frenchman’s six defeats in a disastrous eight-match 33-day stay before being jettisoned.
REACHING FOR THE BOTTLE…Martin O’Neill takes a moment’s breather while backroom Bhoys Shaun Maloney, Gavin Strachan and Stephen McManus check the dug-out monitor.
O’Neill has stepped up twice after the previous bosses had headed for the exit and, encouragingly, the Irishman has led the team to seven league wins from seven over the two spells so far.
However, the 73-year-old stand-in gaffer has a puzzle to solve – and a Scottish Cup-tie against Auchinleck Talbot and a Europa League meeting with Bologna to play – before he prepares his team for the visit to the capital.
After watching the Hoops perform at a high standard in the 4-0 success over Dundee United at Parkhead at the weekend, there was a distinct down-turn in the performance level against John McGlynn’s side.
O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, said: “Delighted to win the game, obviously, we didn’t play too well in the match.
“It was a struggle for long periods, I must admit. I thought that Falkirk did very well in the game, but even so, we can play much better
“It’s a wee bit strange we’ve gone from playing brilliantly on Saturday to struggling on this occasion tonight.
‘The goal was a big, big goal for us to get and we saw the game through.’
“But there’s lots of things for us to improve on that particular performance, and, tonight, winning was the most important thing.”
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