Camilo Duran has set his sights on delivering a memorable Europa League campaign with Celtic as the Hoops look to move on from their Champions League collapse.
Martin O’Neill’s side appeared destined for the league phase after establishing a commanding 3-0 first-leg advantage over LASK, only to suffer a remarkable turnaround in Austria and drop into the Europa League.
Celtic responded with a 2-1 Premiership victory over Falkirk on Saturday, when supporters offered a warm reception to the players despite the disappointment of their European exit.
Duran now wants to repay that backing by making an impact in UEFA’s second-tier competition.
He said via Daily Record: “It was a difficult few days for everyone after going out of the Champions League.
“But we now have the Europa League with some good games to look forward to.
“It’s one of our big objectives now.
“Our aim is to have a good campaign in that competition now and that’s what we will prepare for.
“Losing in Austria last week was obviously disappointing.
“But we knew we had to lift our heads and kick on, especially at home in front of our fans.
“It was pleasing that we did that. We now have to rest up before our next game this week.”
O’Neill admitted he was surprised by the reception Celtic received when the team arrived at the stadium on Saturday, and Duran shared that sentiment.
The Colombian striker revealed he has experienced much harsher reactions following defeats during his career and praised the Celtic support for sticking with the team.
He added: “It could have been a much worse reaction from the fans given the way we lost our last match. But they were impeccable and really got behind us. That was so great for us as players.
“It shows that they are great supporters of the team – that they’re different from a lot of other supporters.
“I have been at clubs before where you get whistled off the pitch. In Colombia, if you lose just one game you get abuse when you go into the next game. I can see it’s different here and it’s great to have that.
“The Celtic fans supported us from the start and stayed with us right until the very end.”
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