Martin O’Neill insists his players’ belief matters more than media reaction as he looks to build on Celtic’s emphatic victory over Hearts.

The Celtic manager has faced considerable scrutiny in recent weeks, including speculation over his future after publicly admitting he would reflect on his position during the international break.

Our Celtic manager page covers his record and background.

Paul Slane predicted Martin O’Neill would “walk”, while Paul Lambert said a departure would not surprise him. Stephen McGowan, Graham Spiers and Hugh Keevins on Clyde also questioned whether he would continue during the international break, without firmly predicting his resignation.

He remained in charge, though, and Sunday’s 7-1 win offered a welcome lift after the disappointment of defeat against Benfica.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League meeting with Celta Vigo, O’Neill questioned how his comments are interpreted.

“Well, the interesting thing you talk about the media, in all honesty, is that I know whatever you say, it’ll go whatever way they want it to go. But I was really positive about the second half.

“I told the players in the dressing room after the Benfica game that that’s it, we’ve got to take the positive side of it, otherwise you just might as well lie down.

“I wasn’t widely bothered about what media or fanzines were saying at the end of it all, as long as the players believed it was the most important thing. And they certainly did.

“We had great moments on Sunday, it was lovely to win, it was lovely to score the goals that we did. And now we’ve got a massive game on Thursday to try and win, to try and get back into that competition.”

The performance against Hearts certainly suggested the players had responded.

Celtic attacked with confidence and punished the visitors throughout an afternoon that gave supporters plenty to enjoy. Maybe not so much for some in the press box…

However, Thursday will provide a different measure of that response. Celtic desperately need to get three points on the board on Thursday and the lack of noise coming from the North Curve could present a different challenge for the Hoops.

O’Neill can dismiss the outside noise from the media, but Celtic need to turn their domestic improvement into European points. Another strong performance against Celta would give his assessment considerably more weight.