Martin O’Neill reveals Celtic star didn’t start against Rangers due to ‘overnight problem’
CELTIC were well beaten by bitter rivals Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.
Derek McInnes‘ side walked away 3-0 winners as they booked their place in the semi-final, where they meet Aberdeen.
Celtic couldn’t lay a glove on Gers, with only one shot on target at the Rangers goal.
There were a few eyebrow-raising selections from O’Neill, with Auston Trusty, Viljami Sinisalo and Haissem Hassan all missing out from the start.
The one which raised the most questions was Hassan, as Sebastian Tounetki took his place in the starting 11, with Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh completing a frontline who created nothing.
The exclusion of Hassan was met with confusion from supporters, and now Martin O’Neill has cleared up why he didn’t start – despite coming on at the break.
In his post-match press conference, O’Neill said a lack of sleep kept the Egyptian out of the team from the off.
He said: “Young Hassan had an overnight problem, and he didn’t get much sleep in all honesty, so it was just a matter of not starting him because of that. That’s the reason, really.”
Hassan was Celtic’s only change at the interval, but O’Neill admitted there could’ve been others, especially with Benjamin Nygren and Colby Donovan on yellow cards.
O’Neill said: “It [the team] could have changed.
“Me personally, I think young Colby has come out of this with great credit. I think he’s an absolute warrior
“Sometimes we misplace passes, but he’s got a big heart. I think we can all learn from that.
“And because of the size of his heart, he was booked in the first half, but he kept going right to the end.
“He was booked against St Mirren after about eight or nine minutes, still kept going. In terms of heart and desire, he’s been a big plus for us.”
O’Neill also provided clarity on the rest of the big selection decisions, asked directly about the inclusion of Johnstone, he said: “I want people to experience these games, because what other way am I going to learn about what people can or cannot do?
“What I don’t want to do is just put people in so that I can learn something from it.
“The main object is obviously to try and win, and it’s a fine balancing act from me.”
