Martin O’Neill has issued a rallying call to his squad by reminding them that they can yet turn a difficult season into one for the history books.
Celtic face St Mirren at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final today in a repeat of the League Cup final in December which the Paisley side won 3-1.
The Parkhead club’s league form this term has seen a massive drop-off with eight defeats in 33 matches leaving them sitting behind Hearts and Rangers ahead of the post-split fixtures starting next weekend.
But despite struggling for consistency throughout a campaign which has also seen Brendan Rodgers and Wilfried Nancy in charge, O’Neill feels the players can still change the narrative by delivering across the next seven matches in two competitions.
‘I can’t look that far forward in the terms of the games, but yeah, if there was an overall message to the side, that’s it,’ said O’Neill.
‘You can do it. We’re still in it. One way or another, we’ve clambered our way into it.
‘After Dundee United, you think, it’s a long way away. We were poor that day, but we got the win at Dundee, followed it up against St Mirren, so yeah, we’re still in it.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has reminded his men they still have two trophies to aim for
‘We’re still fighting for it, which is great.’
O’Neill conceded that he was struggling to maintain a positive outlook after the dismal display his side produced in the 2-0 loss at Tannadice on March 22. And while the two subsequent performances haven’t been sparkling, he’s been encouraged by the fight his players have shown.
‘The only time that I really doubted us all, including myself, was Dundee United,’ he added. ‘In the second half, we just couldn’t get going. It didn’t look as if we were going to create anything in the game, and that was the worry.
‘But they came back against Dundee, stuck it out, could have crumbled at 1-1, Dundee having the next 10 minutes to themselves as well.
‘So, we’ve gone through a bit of adversity and they’re still fighting on and in fairness to the players, they’ve seen a lot of changes. Three managers, four if you include my two spells.
‘So yeah, they’ve had a season in the dressing room. Not that I feel a great deal of sympathy for players in general, but for these boys here, they’ve shown a bit of spirit. It has to stand them in good stead.’
