adminCeltic have remained unshaken domestically so far – but for the first time this season, St Mirren really tested them in Paisley
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill says he had to remind some of his players about the demanding nature of the Scottish Premiership following their hard-earned 2-1 comeback win over St Mirren.
The Hoops maintained their perfect domestic record against the Buddies, but were made to work for it at the Marbill Coaches Stadium. An early penalty from striker Nikolas Agrafotis put Celtic behind in the league for the first time since their title-clinching triumph over Hearts.
Defender Liam Scales was needlessly at fault for the spot-kick after handling the ball inside the box, but made amends in the second half with a precise near-post header. Winger Yang Hyun-jun then secured the winner for the Hoops before heading off to the Asian Games with South Korea. As O’Neill acknowledged after the match, it perhaps felt for the first time this season that Celtic did not have complete command domestically, with the hosts wasting several late opportunities to level the score.
St Mirren challenge highlights ‘tough’ Premiership reality for Hoops
Midfielder Mika Baur has looked comfortable domestically for the Hoops since arriving from Paderborn last month. However, O’Neill says he has had to remind him and some of his teammates that life in the SPFL Premiership is far from straightforward, particularly on the road. He also cautioned late-window Chelsea loan signing Shim Mheuka about the physicality and quality of the league. The 18-year-old thought he had sealed his first goal with a late clincher, but following a VAR review, the effort was ruled out for offside.
When asked about Mheuka’s impact, O’Neill responded: “He could be a proper player in time. He could be. I could see him starting, very easily. This is the whole point, we’ve got a couple of players that deep down you don’t really know exactly what they can do. Of course we’ve studied them, we’ve got their things and they’re coming in.
“But until they’re throwing into these games, I was speaking to wee Mika Baur afterwards, I said, ‘Mika, these games are hard.’ He’s played in the Bundesliga second division, he just got into the big league. The games are hard here. Sometimes they don’t realise how hard they are. But big Shim looks as if he wants to adjust to it.
O’Neill humorously backtracks on Yang elimination comment
The experienced Celtic boss has been a big admirer of Yang since the winger returned to the club last season. After Yang struck the decisive goal, O’Neill jokingly said he hoped South Korea would exit the tournament early so the winger could return to Celtic – before remembering that winning the competition would allow him to avoid 18 months of mandatory national service. Yang is now expected to miss Celtic’s next four matches against St Johnstone, Rangers home and away, and Ferencvaros in Europe.
O’Neill joked: “We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment. Really disappointed. I hope they get beaten quickly! No, I don’t. I don’t. Please, scrub that! He’ll read this and he’ll be really disappointed. But no, because if they do, if they don’t win the tournament, then he has to do national service. So I hope they do win it. But yeah, he’s signed off. Brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he’ll work for you going backwards. He doesn’t mind doing that hard graft.
admin
