Martin O’Neill watched his Celtic side get a first 90 minutes of football under their belt this summer and confessed it was exactly what was needed at this stage, in preparation for the new season commencing on 3 August for the Bhoys…
The Hoops fielded a variety of first team and youth players throughout the match as Martin, Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham put the players through their paces and also have a glance at some of the emerging talent they might have at their disposal moving forward into the next campaign.
The rarely spotted Shin Yamada remarkably scored Celtic’s only goal of the game, via a penalty kick in the end up, meaning we had to settle for a share of the spoils on our opening pre-season friendly match.
As ever, you can never read too much into pre-season results and it will be all about getting the playing staff back on the field and minutes in the legs, as it will slowly but surely increase in challenge and difficulty.
Speaking with the club’s official channel after the match, a delighted Martin O’Neill said: “Naturally, we changed the side around at half time. So lots of boys got 45 minutes.
“The 45 minutes were important for us. Some of the very young lads who’ve only joined in with us for the last week or so for training, I think there’ll be a nervousness there. But it’s just a matter of overcoming that, getting on with it, feeling as if you belong here.
“I thought Shelbourne played really well, and it was a tough old game for us. It’s just exactly what we needed in all honesty,” O’Neill admitted.
Photo Lorraine O’Sullivan Shutterstock/ IMAGO
“They’re in the course of the season, they’re strong, they’re robust and they’re a fine side. I just think that we can pick up things from that. It’s our opening game and there’s a long season ahead of us,” Martin conceded after our opening gambit of his permanent tenure as boss.
Watch Martin’s full interview after our 1-1 draw with Shelbourne below…
Paul Gillespie
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