O’Neill Backs Engels as Celtic Faces Champions League Challenge

Martin O’Neill has backed Celtic midfielder Engels over his decision to sit out the club’s Champions League play-off, even as the veteran manager scrambles to plug the gap before the transfer window closes.

The Celtic boss revealed the player opted not to feature in the crucial tie to avoid the risk of injury ahead of a potential move.

“He didn’t want to play in the matches in case he got injured,” O’Neill explained, before quickly adding that he understood the call.

Replacement search goes to the wire

That choice has left Celtic short in the middle of the park at a pivotal moment. O’Neill admitted the club are still chasing a replacement but have been unable to get a deal over the line in time for the play-off.

“We’re still in the process of trying to do that. We haven’t been able to get someone in, in time, to do that,” he said. “But there are a number of players that we’re looking at and hopefully we will by the end of the transfer window.”

The financial rewards of reaching the group stage are huge, but O’Neill’s eyes are fixed on something else. For him, the lure is the competition itself.

The prestige of the Champions League, he stressed, matters more than the money it brings in. The cash, though, would help Celtic strengthen before the league phase and give them more pulling power in the market.

Hatate interest and a potential revival

Reo Hatate’s future remains another live issue. O’Neill confirmed there has been interest in the Japanese midfielder but nothing concrete yet.

“But I don’t think there’s been anything definitive. That may well happen in the next week,” he said.

If no move materialises, O’Neill insists he would happily build around a rejuvenated Hatate. He would welcome the 26-year-old staying to fight for his place and chase the levels that once made him “one of best midfielders in Scotland” two seasons ago.

Respect for LASK and the scale of the task

Standing between Celtic and the Champions League group stage are Austrian champions LASK, a side O’Neill clearly respects.

He described them as a “very fine side” and warned that the tie will be “very, very difficult” for his team.

“We’ve watched them now on numerous occasions. We’ve had people watching them live,” he said. “They are very fast up front as well, lots of good players on the side. And they’re very, very strong. Physically strong as well.”

O’Neill would love to take a first-leg advantage to Austria. He didn’t dress that up. But he also refused to frame the home game as make-or-break.

A lead would be “lovely”, he said, but “not the end of the world” if Celtic fail to secure one.

What matters more to him is that his squad embrace the occasion. “Celtic are ready for the challenge,” he insisted. “It’s up to the players now as much as anything else. I think the quality that we brought in will bear fruit during the course of the season.”

O’Neill’s Champions League return

At 74, O’Neill is back on the Champions League stage for the first time in over 20 years, and he made no attempt to hide his excitement.

“I didn’t think last September or October I’d be sitting here thinking about a Champions League game. If I was, I’d certainly be watching it on TV,” he said with a smile.

“There are challenges in this Champions League. You could get nothing else but excited about it, which is fantastic, especially at my age.”

Old rivalry on the horizon

Beyond Europe, the draw has handed Celtic a League Cup quarter-final trip to Rangers, another high-stakes assignment in a season already heavy with narrative.

O’Neill is not letting his mind drift too far ahead, but he is not shying away from the occasion either.

“I’m looking forward to it when it comes to it,” he said. “Naturally, the concentration is totally in these two games. But it is what it is. We’re drawn away from home again.”

For now, everything funnels into LASK and the fight for a place in the Champions League. The transfer noise, the Hatate question, even the looming trip to Ibrox — all of it circles around one simple reality: Celtic have two games to prove they belong back among Europe’s elite.