Martin O'Neill has dismissed suggestions that Celtic are a Jekyll and Hyde outfit who are out of their depth in Europe.
The Hoops sit top of the Premiership following last week's 7-1 hammering of Hearts. However, Celtic slumped to second bottom of the Europa League after Thursday's defeat against Celta Vigo, making it three games without a win in the group stage.
O'Neill Defends European Record
When asked why his side were so Jekyll and Hyde, O'Neill said: "I don't think it is. Benfica won again on Thursday night. I see LASK won in the Champions League."
"We are up against reasonable opposition. I thought the other night was the night to get off the mark. Is Europe a step too far for us? I'm hoping not. It might be right at the end of it all but I don't think so. You want to compete here. I'm not saying it should be an absolute joy but it should be a spur to play in these games against really decent opposition."
Celtic's European Ambitions
Celtic have crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers and are now struggling in the Europa League. But O'Neill is refusing to accept the Hoops have become European also-rans and is not giving up hope of reaching the knockout stages.
He said: "I know it's easy for me to say, but Celtic will be back. You can definitely learn a lot from the European games. Like last season against Midtjylland, we were physically blown away. But we fought back and got some good results. That's what we want to try to do again."
"I get it's three games without a point though. There's no question the European games are a step up. They are playing in the Spanish top division and have some decent players. They are decent but I believed they were beatable the other night, and that's the disappointment."
"It's easy for me to say so, but if we can get up and running there's still a chance. But each game that passes when we don't get on the scoreboard it becomes more difficult."
Team News and Injury Updates
O'Neill will assess the fitness of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston today, but Auston Trusty is likely to miss Easter Road following the death of his father. The Hoops boss wants a similar reaction to last week when his side bounced back from Benfica by beating Hearts.
O'Neill said: "It was tough after the Ferencvaros game. It was the opening game of the competition and we were beaten at home. I felt that might have been difficult coming back. I don't want to go back to it too much but I felt the second half against Benfica was fine and we produced on the Sunday. It was definitely disappointing to drop three points the other night. You can't have excuses going into Sunday. That's how the club is built. You need to be competing."
Carter-Vickers and Johnston are close to returning, and O'Neill said: "I think with those two lads and Jota will definitely be a real plus for us in the coming weeks. They are coming back from hamstring injuries so we will have a look and see if they are available. They will be a major plus for us and hopefully we'll have Yang back in a few weeks as well."
"Obviously you are aware of Trusty's situation. He's very, very down, which is totally understandable. We'll have to see what he wants to do. I don't want to talk out of turn but I think there will be a celebration of his father's life that he'll want to go out to. He's naturally very down at the moment but we'll give him time and see how he is."
O'Neill also admitted he has a goalkeeper dilemma after pitching in Sam Johnstone for the Celta defeat. The boss said: "He needs to play. I want him involved and him to really feel part of this. He's come in and I was delighted he came up to the football club. He really wants to compete with Vil for the position. I thought he did okay. Will he stay in the team? I'll have a look and have a wee think about it."
