‘I’M NOT TOO WORRIED,’ INSISTS BOSS

MARTIN O’NEILL won’t be pushing any panic buttons after watching Celtic dismantled 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon in a warm-up game at the Estadio Algarve last night.

Only centre-back Dane Murray remained on the pitch for the Hoops in the entire 90 minutes and was partnered by Cameron Carter-Vickers at the start and then Maik Nawrocki following a raft of substitutions in the 64th minute.

The main exercise of the encounter was to continue to get the summer rust out of inactive limbs after the champions had kicked off their preparations in the 1-1 draw with Shelbourne in Dublin last week.

New Bhoy Camilo Duran, who claimed Celtic’s consolation goal against the Portuguese, is in line for his Parkhead bow on Saturday afternoon when Middlesbrough provide the opposition.

Serie A cracks AC Milan are next up the following weekend, but O’Neill is remaining focused on the Premiership kick-off against Dundee in the east end of Glasgow on Monday August 3.

Reflecting on the defeat from Sporting, the Irishman said: “They are a really good side. Like us, they had players on World Cup duty, but they still have some very fine players.

“It was a great test, especially for the young boys who came on.

“I know the changes didn’t have the effect we wanted and we got a bit disjointed, but, overall, it was also great for the senior players.

“I have been here many times in pre-season before. I’ve had times when results have gone brilliantly and you open up and wonder where it went to – and vice versa.”

O’Neill, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “In terms of the performance, I’m not too worried.

“If this was AC Milan in a few weeks then you can get concerned.

“But we have players coming back and, hopefully, we’ll add to the squad and get things rectified.

“The most important game is the first match of the season.”