Martin O'Neill explains bold Celtic team selection choice vs Rangers and where he stands on title chances

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill has hailed a 3-1 Premiership win over Rangers amid the title race - as he explained a tactical decision made.

The second-placed Hoops have title destiny in their own hands after coming from a goal down against their arch rivals thanks to a Yang effort and Daizen Maeda double. It means that two wins over Motherwell and current league leaders Hearts - who are ahead by a point - will be enough to see Celtic retain their title ahead of a Scottish Cup final bout with Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline Athletic later this month.

It could also be O’Neill’s final Old Firm clash after returning to the dugout on two occasions at Celtic Park this season following Brendan Rodgers’ and Wilfried Nancy’s respective departures. His focus is on Wednesday’s clash with Motherwell but the boss is thrilled to be in a position where Celtic can dictate who wins the title on their terms.

Martin O’Neill on Celtic 3-1 Rangers

”It was really, obviously, important to win the game. Great fightback by the players and lovely to win. Played some really great stuff, strange enough so did Rangers as well too, so the first half was just really hectic. It was one of those, you have the ball, they have the ball, you have it, they have it and they made the most of it. So, coming from behind today was great for us.

“You have to win football matches here, you have to dig it out, and people were talking about the four goals that we scored in extra time in the Scottish Cup semi final against St Mirren being part of the Celtic thing. But we've had to work for that. We've really had to work for it. This is the whole point. And today, I thought there was some fabulous stuff being played. The crowd, of course, played a big part. I thought they were really terrific. They carried us along at a time when Rangers were in the ascendancy.

“The criticism I'm not worried about. It would be nice to start a season, get your own thoughts together, your own plans, all that type of stuff. Lay out plans for the whole season. It wasn't to be and we've been playing catch-up, that's the thing. We're still playing catch-up. So, I don't know, maybe they might extend the season for us to catch-up.

Can Celtic win the title?

“We have to win. We have no grounds for dropping points, we can't afford to do it. I would just expect Hearts to win their game. So, we've got a really difficult match at Motherwell. Really difficult and I couldn't even think about the following game until that match is played. Really difficult, as was proved on Saturday night.

“People have said to me about momentum. I think momentum can get shifted at any given moment. We're doing fine, really doing fine, in the games. We're just trying to find a way to win. Sunday is obviously special against Rangers, it is, but it's eventually in the scheme of things just three points. We can look no further than Wednesday.”

O’Neill also explained an interesting tactical decision to start midfielder Luke McCowan at right midfield ahead of returning full-back Alistair Johnston, eventually subbing the ex-Dundee man for a natural winger in Sebastian Tounekti at half-time. He explained: “What we thought is that with Alistair getting fitter each time he plays, and the ability to get up and down and support people, we just thought that Luke might have been able to cut inside. As it turns out, he made the pass for the equalising goal. It was tough, really, for him because it was hard to get a breath.

“He hasn't started a game for a little while And the pace was really hectic, really hectic. So from that viewpoint, yeah, just changed it at half-time. The reasoning behind it was the very fact that Alistair can get fitter, he can join in, and if Luke was coming inside a couple of times, he could thread little things through to Alistair on the overlap. That was the thought.”

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