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‘It was a toil’ – O’Neill
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill conceded that he gleaned limited insights into his squad following a hard-fought Scottish Cup victory against sixth-tier Auchinleck Talbot.
With only captain Callum McGregor retaining his position from the midweek triumph over Falkirk, O’Neill used the occasion to provide opportunities to peripheral members of the team.
Stephen Welsh made his first Celtic appearance since December 2024, having been recalled from his loan at Motherwell, while Michel-Ange Balikwisha was brought back into the fold, and Johnny Kenny led the attack.
O’Neill has been vocal about the need for reinforcements during the January transfer window, yet with the period more than halfway through, Parkhead has yet to welcome any new additions.
Kenny squandered several opportunities before ultimately scoring the opening goal from close range, and substitute Sebastian Tounekti sealed the victory with a sublime late curler.
Disgruntled fans at Rugby Park voiced their displeasure with chants of “sign a player.”
“Tonight, it would have been nice to put on a great performance,” O’Neill stated. “I was very concerned about the game – but that’s how I’ve spent the last 30 years.
“We should have played much better. I’m not so sure I learned much more than I knew before.”
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Following the labored victory against part-time opposition, O’Neill was again questioned about potential signings.
“I do dread this question,” he admitted, before quipping, “We are making some progress and hopefully we will get the players in before the end of the season.”
O’Neill has maintained his perfect domestic record since being appointed at Parkhead following Brendan Rodgers’ abrupt departure in October.
After Wilfried Nancy’s brief 33-day tenure, the club once again turned to the 73-year-old, who used the Auchinleck match to assess players he had previously not utilized.
“We made 10 changes,” O’Neill noted. “A couple of lads who played tonight did not feature for me at all in the first spell. [Michel-Ange] Balikwisha, Paulo [Bernardo].
“It was a matter of trying to see what they could do. We’ve a fair idea of what we need to do [in the window] and I want to get on with it.”
While Kenny scored his sixth goal of the season, it was his missed chances and shortcomings in other aspects of the lone center-forward role that drew criticism from fans.
“Most teams that play against Celtic are comfortable to leave them with possession as long as they don’t play through the lines,” former Celtic defender Jackie McNamara observed.
“They force them wide and say ‘we’ll deal with it’ because they don’t have a target man in the middle to win those headers.
“If they did they would score many more goals but you can see with Kenny it’s not his game. He’s a second striker and not an out and out number nine.”
Ryan Stevenson, a former Hearts striker, echoed the sentiment, expressing his lack of impression with some of Celtic’s starters.
“Martin will have learned a lot today about players who are on the fringes,” he said.
“He and his backroom staff will have a meeting and they’ll say ‘he didn’t grasp his opportunity’ or ‘I don’t think he did well enough’ or ‘he did do well enough’.”
“James Forrest did well and Luke McCowan worked hard but there’s too many that have kind of gone through the motions.”
Kenny himself is hoping that his goal will trigger a positive run of form ahead of crucial European fixtures against Bologna and Utrecht, sandwiching a Scottish Premiership match against league leaders Hearts.
“That’s the life of a striker, you need to be ready when something comes,” he said. “It’s been a tough few weeks. Every striker misses chances and hopefully I can go on a run.
“We know we’re a good side. We’ve had a bit of a blip but we can only focus game by game and that’s Bologna on Thursday night.”
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