A delighted Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media this afternoon after Celtic emphatic 7-1 victory over Hearts at Celtic Park. Here’s everything that the Celtic manager had to say…

Q: Was that a statement win for you Martin?

Martin O’Neill: “I think it’s probably too early to consider that, but I thought we played really well in the game, really well. A couple of early skirmishes around our penalty box, then we got the goal from the first real proper attack I think we had, scored from the corner and we took it on from there, so we played really well today.”

Q: What pleased you the most about the victory?

Martin O’Neill: “I think actually the manner in which we got through, breaking up play and getting forward, obviously finishing the chances that we had off. This time last week we created a lot of chances against Motherwell, didn’t take them, today we took them and that was probably the most pleasing thing.”

Q: Do you think the win, the nature of it, scoring seven goals, could have a galvanising effect on the season?

Martin O’Neill: “It’d be nice if that’s the case, yeah. I think it was a great win, I thought the performance was great, certainly gave us confidence going into Thursday evening and maybe try and continue that on. I think some of the players getting moments as well too on the field, I think all of that there helps. It was a tough evening on Thursday against a very good side, but I thought the second half performance actually did give us that sort of confidence to go into the game today, although did I think we were going to score seven goals? No.”

Q: Did Callum Osmand get an injury?

Martin O’Neill: “It was a hamstring problem at half-time, not surprised really because he’s not played that much but it was more precautionary than anything else. Tim, the physiotherapist, said just leave him out and I think he would have said that even if it had been nil-nil.”

Q: Obviously he has had injuries, you’d be hoping it’s okay?

Martin O’Neill: “Yes, exactly. I think he wanted to continue for a while, but I think he’s saw sense and he’s… yeah. But he should be okay for Thursday.”

Q: He’s made a great impact on Thursday and today?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, well he deserved the chance from mid-week. I think that he and Hassan coming on at half-time gave us a bit of impetus in the second half of the match on Thursday, so they both deserved to start the game. And yeah, so Callum did great. He has a goal-scoring instinct, there’s no question about that. Definitely has that. And I’m not saying that wide left is his strongest position. I think probably if he was playing for us he might… He’s small, so leading the line might be difficult for him, but playing alongside somebody quite strong, I think he could do really well. Listen, he wants to play anywhere, it doesn’t matter if he’s just getting into the team.”

Q: Obviously the decision to play Camilo Duran through the middle worked. It was a big decision for you to make, to leave Kasper Hogh out?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, Kasper, I think I said in a little interview I did on Friday, he will score goals for us. He’s just feeling a bit down. He’s delighted he’s made the goal today, so that’ll give him a bit of a lift. And yeah, sometimes it happens, but he’ll just get a goal and he’ll get started again.

“I think the sort of form that Camilo Duran is in at this moment, he travelled, he was desperate to play after the birth of his child. I think he saw the child for about an hour and then disappeared and wanted to come to it. So we got him there, so yeah, he wanted to play and I think that’s probably his best position.

“But Kasper, he’s a fighter and he wants to go. I think he will definitely score goals. Easier for me to say now, but he’ll score goals between now and the end of the season.”

Q: After the Hearts goal, Martin, you seemed quite annoyed at the fourth official?

Martin O’Neill: “I’ve apologised. I’ve apologised to the fourth official. I’ve apologised because I thought the referee allowed the ball to be taken 20 yards further up the field. That’s the problem with the multi-balls. And when the multi-balls don’t go in your favour, then you’re not happy. When they go in your favour, you don’t say a word. But yeah, that was where it… And they scored the goal from that. I just thought it was a rather large distance. I’m going to check it in the game again. But it was a large distance and I’ve apologised to the fourth official.”

Q: Just generally, can this kind of performance be a big boost ahead of a big European game you’ve got?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it is a big match for us now. Really big game for us because we need to win it. We need to win, really. We need to get some points on the board and this will give us confidence to go in. We still might make a couple of changes in the side because it’s pretty hectic. But do you know what? Sometimes just maybe playing the games is better than having the whole week free. I say that now. I probably wouldn’t have been saying that at all had we been beaten today.”

Q: How much satisfaction do you take from the four-point cushion at the top again now?

Martin O’Neill: “I think it’s very early. I think we were four points behind with about seven games to go last season. So it can be eroded very, very quickly. But it’s nice to win today and win in the manner in which we did. From Hearts’ viewpoint, probably just a bad day at the office. And they’ll still be challengers. They’ve got some really decent players who can play a bit.”

Q: A lot of the talk has been about the club being stumbling and in crisis and trouble and problems and all that stuff. Is that maybe a wee message out to everyone that you are still top goals and there to be shot at?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, right. If we lose on Thursday, it’ll be crisis back again. So, you know, been here before. Just have to try and win. We know that anyway. It won’t be easy for us. That will definitely give us a boost.

Q: What do you anticipate just being the knock-on effect of a result and a performance today, given just how emphatic it was?

Martin O’Neill: “Obviously, the team as a whole are delighted in there. Individually, I think they should be really pleased. I thought Tierney was exceptional for us today and Colby is improving all the time. Big Dane did well and obviously I’ve got a great deal of time for Scales. But that’s not to say that the players in front of them didn’t play well. Mika Baur was great. And, yeah, who am I missing? No, no. Honestly, they were really good. But I’m particularly pleased because Colby was up against a really decent player as well today. And his improvement in a year has been really nice to see.”

Q: When you look ahead to Thursday night, do you feel the Europa League campaign is salvageable?

Martin O’Neill: “Oh, I do. I do. And I know I said this back when I left the interview room on Thursday night. What’s he talking about? I do think this. I think that that’s the case. But we need to win. We need to win the game because it’s a home game. We have to try and win. We lost ground, not so much against the Benfica game, but we lost ground in the Ferencvaros game. So we’ve got to win. And if we can win, that will definitely give us a big lift. If we don’t, that’s three games gone. It’s a long way back from there.”

Q: Are you expecting Yang back for Thursday night?

Martin O’Neill: “The answer would be no, definitely not. He’s doing well. He’s back on the grass, as they say now. But no, he’ll not be ready for a week or two yet.”

Q: Cameron Carter-Vickers? Cameron, I think the earliest we’d be probably seeing him would be the Hibs game.

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