Mick: Celts will thrash a few teams

The 33-year-old centre back and his ’Well mates were brushed aside 5-0 in a depressingly one-sided Betfred Cup second round encounter at Parkhead on Wednesday night.

“There is real disappointment about the result,” McManus said.

“But we were up against a very good side firing on all cylinders so we will dust ourselves down and go again.

“It was the hardest draw we could have got coming here.

“Celtic are capable of doing that to anyone. They are a completely different animal from what they were last season.

“That’s obviously down to the new manager coming in.

“It’s a difficult place to come. Celtic will be very good this season.

“I think a lot of opposition teams coming here will do worse than what we did tonight.

“The tempo that Celtic are playing at, their positional play and the shape of their team out of possession make them very difficult to play against.

“That’s what you get when you bring in a top manager.”

Celtic’s dominance in the tie was such that although they scored five goals, they could have had several more were it not for an outstanding performance by ’Well keeper Craig Samson who made numerous fine saves.

Celtic led 2-0 at half-time thanks to a fine Tom Rogic shot and a Moussa Dembele penalty awarded for Richard Tait’s foul on Scott Sinclair.

And, although ’Well started the second half more promisingly, three further Celtic goals arrived from Sinclair, Dembele and Rogic.

“We will try not to lose any confidence over this defeat,” McManus added.

“We have started pre-season very well and maybe one or two new players will come in before the window closes.

“And hopefully we can keep a hold of all our good players.”

Motherwell will be looking to bounce back in a home Scottish Premiership encounter with St Johnstone, kick-off 3pm this Saturday.

“It will be a difficult game,” McManus said.

“You know what you’re going to get with St Johnstone.

“They are always the same, really good pros and good work ethic in the team with a good manager.

“They’ll come to our place full of confidence with the way they’re playing but we’ll be the same.

“It will be a hard game but we fancy anybody at home.”