Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has been speaking to the media as his side prepare for Saturday’s trip to Paisley to face St Mirren.
Here are the main points:
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On the announcement that there will be no away fans at games between Celtic and Rangers this season, O’Neill thinks it was “inevitable” but admits it’s “really sad from a normal punter’s viewpoint”.
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O’Neill stresses the derby matches are “a great fixture” which “loses a great deal with the big allocation of away fans not being in the stadium”.
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Looking at Celtic’s transfer window as a whole, O’Neill says “we’ve got some players in, so I’m really really pleased”.
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The 74-year-old adds that “if we can avoid serious injury to the players here” then he is “happy” with the number of signings in the building.
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While O’Neill admits “ideally it would be great to have got players in early” he just wants to “get on with it now”.
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Five of the six players brought in on the penultimate day of the window were loan deals and while O’Neill notes “loans are sometimes a bit of a concern” he says “it depends on the player”.
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Celtic had to leave three of the new signings – Landon Emenalo, Shim Mheuka and Joel van den Berg – out of the league phase Europa League squad and while O’Neill says “in an ideal world I would have had them all on board”, he insists “our bread and butter is the league”.
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Missing out on Gvidas Ginetis from Torino was “not a problem” for O’Neill who is “really pleased with what we have now at this minute”.
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Kieran Tierney and Kasper Hogh, who missed the game against Aberdeen, are both “on the mend” and could be ready for the game against St Johnstone next Wednesday 9 September.
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On St Mirren, the Northern Irishman says Craig McLeish’s side have been “an absolute delight” this season.
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