MARTIN O’NEILL has no intention of indulging in any mind games as he prepares his players for a must-win Premiership encounter against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow night.
The interim Celtic manager is completely focused on getting “a grip of the game” right from the start in the realisation a victory would see the champions leapfrog Danny Rohl’s Ibrox side by a point and move into second place.
The 74-year-old gaffer was not satisfied with his team’s first-half display in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox on Sunday where they lost two goals after being pushed onto the back foot for the bulk of the opening period.
O’Neill is demanding there will be no false start in the north east with the visitors kicking off the match in full throttle.
NO FALSE START…Martin O’Neill is demanding Celtic come out the traps at Pittodrie.
The Irishman said: “This is a big game for us and we have to try and win. The players know that themselves.
“We’ve left ourselves in this position, through one thing or another, and we’ve got to try and see it through.
“The total focus is on the game. We certainly can’t spend 45 minutes on the back foot and not really competing properly.
“And that’s against any side, never mind Rangers, so from our viewpoint, I think we’ve got to try and get a grip of the game earlier than we are doing.”
Asked if a win and a switch in league positions would give his team a psychological advantage over their Glasgow rivals ahead of their Scottish Cup quarter-final visit to Govan on Sunday, O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, responded: “I don’t know.
“I can only treat the game just on its merit and go for it and try and win.
“It won’t be easy for us in Aberdeen, I’ve never had an easy game at Pittodrie in all my time managing, so I would expect exactly the same and the players are expecting that, as well.
“The game itself presents the challenge. I think that Aberdeen will get themselves up for the game, quite rightly so, and they’ve got points to prove themselves.
“Regardless of what position the two clubs find themselves in, it will be a difficult match.”
Viljami Sinisalo will make his third successive appearance in goal with Kasper Schmeichel still unavailable.
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