CONFIRMED: O’NEILL’S LAST HURRAH

MARTIN O’NEILL has confirmed tomorrow night’s Premiership encounter against Dundee at Parkhead will be his last hurrah.

The Irishman will step down after eight games in charge during his interim period with Wilfried Nancy poised to take over in time for the visit of Hearts on Sunday.

O’Neill, who answered the call following Brendan Rodgers’ rapid exit, was expected to step down after the win over Hibs at Easter Road at the weekend, but a phone call alerted him to the fact his services would be required against the Dens Park outfit.

The 73-year-old stand-in gaffer, who had five years at the club after initially arriving in the summer of 2000, addressed the media at the pre-match conference this afternoon.

O’Neill smiled and said: “You will be relieved to know that this is definitely it for tomorrow evening, so I’ve been assured of it by the board.

“A young gentleman’s coming in and it’s over to him.

“Obviously, though, we’ve got the big, big game here tomorrow evening and, naturally, I’d like to try and win it if we can.

“It won’t be easy. Dundee did us a few weeks ago, so we’ve got a bit of a job in our hands.”

Preparing for his final fling, O’Neill, speaking to Sky Sports, added: “The nice thing about the players is that they have responded and they’ve shown a willingness to try and implement some of the things that I think are important about the game.

“That’s really it. Some have maybe even been reluctant to do it, I don’t know. I’m joking!

“They’ve been great, obviously, and I couldn’t praise them highly enough.

“We’ve got one more game to go, for me. They’ve got big, big matches ahead and those games are really important to them.

“The response has been terrific.”

O’Neill has racked up four successive victories in his Premiership outings since his dramatic return. After just 48 hours in the post, he guided the champions to a 4-0 triumph over Falkirk in the east end of Glasgow and followed up with an identical win over Kilmarnock at the same venue.

Then came back-to-back away victories over St Mirren (1-0) and Hibs (2-1).

The veteran Irishman also led the holders to a 3-1 Premier Sports League Cup semi-final extra-time success over Rangers to set up a silverware showpiece against Stephen Robinson’s Paisley outfit at Hampden a week on Sunday.

There was also a welcoming Europa League win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam last week while his only blip in his brief return came in the same competition with a 3-1 loss to FC Midtjylland in Denmark.

Celtic are now two points behind leaders Hearts with a game in hand after dropping eight adrift in Rodgers’ last match.

🚨 Breaking: Martin O’Neill confirms Celtic’s match against Dundee tomorrow 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 be his last as interim boss ahead of Wilfried Nancy’s arrival ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/htugo9FgUS

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 2, 2025