MARTIN O’NEILL acknowledges Celtic have questions to answer and a challenge to meet and overcome in the second of the derby double-header at Parkhead on Sunday.
Derek McInnes’ side won the first instalment 3-0 in a Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox last weekend where hardly any of the visiting team did themselves justice.
And the anguish continued under the lights in the east end of Glasgow last night when O’Neill’s men toppled to a 3-1 Europa League defeat against Hungary’s Ferencvaros.
Two big games and back-to-back losses. The champions realise there is no scope for the sequence of failure to be extended in the first Premiership meeting of the league campaign between the city rivals.
A BIG HAND…Martin O’Neill aims to give the Celtic fans something to cheer in the derby encounter at Parkhad on Sunday.
O’Neill and his players are aware, too, that a home win will open up an EIGHT-POINT gap after only seven league encounters this term.
A defiant team boss said: “We’re ready to go. We really are. We’ll get prepared for the game. It was a difficult game last Sunday and, obviously, difficult last night, but we’re raring to go.
“It’s a big game whether it’s played in September or March time. It’s a really big game and we need to be up for it.
“Just analysing last night’s game, we had all the possession for 10 or 15 minutes. We created a number of great chances and had we taken one of those and got ourselves into the lead, then I think confidence would have been restored.
“But we’re far from rock bottom. We’re still in the lead in the league and if we could win this, we can extend the lead.’
O’Neill, speaking to CelticPlayer, continued: “You could do any press conference on a Friday for any manager who would maybe have lost a previous game and they still talk about confidence and restoration of it.
SEEING DOUBLE…Shaun Maloney and Martin O’Neill shout out instructions in Celtic’s 2-1 Premiership win against St Mirren in Paisley earlier this month.
“So, that’s nothing new.
“When you lose a game, some players maybe don’t play up to their potential and, of course, then the first thing you think is maybe a little bit of confidence. But you can restore that with a victory.”
The veteran team chief added: “I’ve tried to focus even on what we can do.
“Of course, you take into consideration the opposition. That’s why you look at them, but I’m not in control of what the opposition can do. You can only control what you do.
“But you have to counteract whatever sort of systems that other teams are playing. And, of course, if you win the football match, it seems as if you have countered those.
“If you don’t, then you’re open to debate.”
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