MARTIN O’NEILL has demanded his Celtic players show true grit and desire to answer accusations following their feeble performance at Ibrox on Sunday.
The Hoops were second best all over the pitch on an afternoon where they collapsed 3-0 and toppled out of the Premier Sports League Cup without laying a glove on their opponents.
There was an alarming lack of courage, backbone and character from the visitors as they meekly accepted the inevitable outcome as heads went down throughout the team.
Now the veteran coach has to galvanise his troops before tomorrow night’s opening Europa League Cup encounter against the Hungarians of Ferencvaros at Parkhead.
TRANSFIXED…Martin O’Neill is expressionless as he watches Celtic toil at Ibrox.
And then, of course, the focus switches back to the Glasgow derby at the same venue on Sunday in a confrontation in which the champions can gain redemption and move EIGHT points ahead of Derek McInnes’ side after only seven games.
O’Neill confronted his squad after the pain game in Govan and revealed: “I said to the players, I’m not so sure whether Rangers beat us or we beat ourselves in that sense.
“You’ve got to put the work in, you’ve got to do it and you’ve got to do it EVERY single week.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a home game against somebody who’s at the bottom of the league or away at Ibrox. You’ve just really got to put the work in.
“That has defined Celtic teams in the past, putting this work in. That’s what we did at the back end of last season.
“Hopefully, this will be the last time I mention it.”
Reflecting on the remarkable late surge on the team’s way to a fifth successive title in the previous campaign, O’Neill, speaking to the Scottish Sun, continued: “We showed heart, grit and determination to fight back having been beaten by Dundee United to win the next seven games, including winning against Rangers and Hearts.
“Some of those matches I think we won through sheer desire. So, you’ve got to have that.
THE THINKER…Martin O’Neill ponders his next move.
“There’s no point in having all the talent in the world if you don’t apply the determination and the will to win. Sometimes that defines players.
“I’ve said this to the players in the dressing room and it doesn’t hold all the time, but sometimes you can make assumptions on players’ character about what they do on the pitch.”
The Hoops gaffer added: “We’ve had a setback on Sunday. You have to look at it and you have to hurt a bit – you have to hurt a lot, I think.
“That’s the way I spent my career. I probably overindulged in the hurting aspect, but the games have to hurt you as a player and a manager.
“After that, you go and rise above it again. That defines you as much as anything else.”
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