Martin O’Neill has warned his Celtic squad that they’ll need to be close to perfect from here until May if they are to retain their Premiership crown.
With the veteran back in the hot seat following Wilfried Nancy’s disastrous spell in charge, the side returned to winning ways with a 4-0 win over Dundee United on Saturday.
But with Hearts and Rangers beating Dundee and Aberdeen, respectively, the following day, the Parkhead men returned to third place in the table, six points off the pace.
Although Celtic still have 17 games to play, starting at Falkirk on Wednesday, O’Neill feels the scope for slip-ups in the race is now slight.
‘Because we’ve given ourselves a bit of difficulty in winning some games recently, we have a real fight on our hands,’ said the 73-year-old.
‘This time last year and in quite a number of years, Celtic would be, seemingly from a distance, serenely going to the title and being able to not worry too much about the occasional hiccup…
Martin O’Neill has admitted that Celtic have no room for error in the Premiership title race
‘You might drop some points unexpectedly somewhere, but you’re still so far in front that things are good.
‘Here we cannot. We’ve got ourselves into a situation where the margin of error is very, very small. That’s the main problem.’
O’Neill, meanwhile, has revealed recalling Stephen Welsh was ‘needs must’ but that he could still return to Motherwell in this transfer window.
The defender has been a mainstay of the Fir Park side under Jens Berthel Askou, but is now back at Lennoxtown after his parent club activated a January recall option on his season-long loan deal.
But the 25-year-old could yet go back to the top division’s surprise package by the end of this month if Celtic first secure the players they are looking for.
‘He’s enjoying himself immensely at Motherwell,’ added O’Neill.
‘We have this opportunity to do that (return) and he could go back out again before the end of the window, back to Motherwell, if he can.
‘The last thing you want to do is stop someone from really enjoying themselves.
‘He’s having a really, really great season with a team that’s flying. They’ve played some beautiful football.
‘But I only had a chance here this morning just to say hello to him.
‘Really in essence, we at this moment, until we get some recruitments in, it’s needs must.
‘I’m totally unaware of the rules at this moment having been out for some time.
‘It’s just in case we have anything that happens to any of our defensive players. We’ve got three at the minute.
‘We’ve got young Dane (Murray), who is very inexperienced in that sense, who I think can definitely be a player. I think there’s a player there.
‘So, if anything happens to those lads at all, then you are in a bit of trouble. So, we might look at something again, but we’ll see. But that’s the reason for it.’
Celtic are exploring a deal for Uruguayan right-winger Ignacio Laquintana.
The 26-year-old international, who plays for Brazilian side Red Bull Brabantino, is keen to move to Glasgow with the Parkhead club exploring a loan deal with an option to buy.
