Martin O’Neill spoke to the media after Celtic’s crucial 2-1 victory against Dundee at Dens Park to go within three points of Hearts with six matches remaining. Here is everything the interim Hoops boss said…
Martin O’Neill at Dens Park. Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Martin, the result of that, what was the difference this time around in the City of Discovery with your team’s performance?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, we started off very, very strongly. We got ourselves in front. We should have been really out of sight by half-time, but we weren’t. I always felt that Dundee will maybe capitalise on the wind in the second half. So I was naturally concerned that the game hadn’t been won at that time.
Simon Murray scores for Dundee from the penalty spot. Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“So they get the equalising goal. I haven’t seen the thing back. It was tough, but we carved out the chance. We won the game. I think overall we deserved to win the match, but that’s beside the point. When it’s one each and time running out and you’re having to win, then we conjured something up. Iheanacho gets the goal and it gives us a chance, though. Because if we had dropped points there today, even two points, we’d have been a long way back.”
Q: Is it shredding your nerves, sometimes having to wait on to try and get the all-important goal?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, well, in the scheme of things, my nerves don’t really matter that much. But I’ve been here before. Gosh almighty, I remember Neil Lennon making his debut here in that Christmas of our first year when we scrambled a goal at the end of the game. I think Didier Agathe scored it, so it kind of reminded me. Not in the same manner, of course, but it was nice to win here.”
Q: Because of the nature of what’s happening elsewhere, do you sense from the team that there’s a determination that they can get these six games over the line?
Martin O’Neill: “Right, okay. Well, I suppose it’s easy for me to say. I thought that for the first time, a fortnight ago, I had to question whether we really, really wanted it. Forget about the pitch, forget about the state of the pitch there a fortnight ago.
Yang and Nygren celebrate Celtic’s opener. Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“Just in the second half, I thought we just didn’t show an appetite to really want to get into the game. The second goal probably knocked us really back, but we’d never created anything during the course of the game. And then you’ve got a fortnight to think about it. So we can have a renewed determination to try and get in front today and try and naturally take the game away from Dundee. So we’ve done that today. We’re still in it, but still a lot to ponder.”
Q: You used a phrase across the road the other week that said we need to reset our attitude. Do you feel they did that today?
Martin O’Neill: “Oh, I absolutely did. And I think that was to do with the way that we approached the game right from the off. I know we had the advantage of the wind, but we looked as if we were creating and carving out chances, to win or to score.
Tomas Cvancara fails to convert . Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“And when the second goal didn’t come, then you’re thinking you’re going at half time. And I felt really, maybe it’s just the pessimistic side of me, that I felt it’ll come back to haunt us at some stage or another, unless we can get a second goal, which we didn’t do.
“Then they’ve got the penalty, then the resurgence of confidence in their side. And it was tough. It really was tough. But we had to try and do something. The draw was no good to us, so you take some chances at the end of the day. They came off, but sometimes they don’t.”
Q: How big a moment can that be for Kelechi Iheanacho and his confidence going forward?
Martin O’Neill: “That would be great for him, really great. He’s had a really frustrating time since he’s been here. When I arrived, first of all, he was recovering from a hamstring, which he’d got after, I think, about five minutes in the game. And then Wilfried put him into the side and he pulled the hamstring again in the cup final. So he’s been fighting back from that.
Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates. Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“I’ve had a chat with him to say to him that he’s been a really fine player in his career. And he should be, really, at 29, he should be at the peak of his career, rather than, you know, sometimes maybe just scratching around. So I think that’s the point.
“But he scores. He can hold the ball up. He’s good at that. Might not be able to run the channels that much, but at the end of the day, he can hold the ball up. And that’s his trademark, really, in the game. And he’s played for Manchester City at the end of the day. Well, that’s some time ago, isn’t it? Like everything else. But, yeah, that’ll do him the world of good, I think.”
Q: Could that be a major thing for you to get a centre-forward to score regularly?
Martin O’Neill: “I think the two points for a centre-forward, I think, I mean, I’ve been spoiled, obviously, with centre-forwards here way back years ago. So centre-forward’s got to try and hold the ball, for a start, and then naturally get on the end of things, you know, and score some goals. So you can forgive people maybe not holding it up if they are on the end of things and scoring some goals. But when that’s not happening, then it does cause us a problem.
Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“And so for him today, to get that goal, he’s actually buzzing in the dressing room at this minute. That’s the happiest I’ve seen him here, you know, in quite some time.”
Q: What did you make of Tomas Cvancara’s performance up front today? He missed a few chances?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, naturally he was pretty down there, even though we had the win. He was down because he needs to score. In his mind, he needs to score a goal. Some of the chances that he had today, I think he could have easily had two. And it becomes frustrating, because no matter what you say, centre-forwards are those things. They thrive on scoring goals. The confidence is big when you put the ball in the net. And so it’s a frustrating time for him today.”
Q: Do you know what your best team is at this minute? Obviously six games to go in the run-in?
Martin O’Neill: “Do you know what? It’s a very good point. I’m not sure I’ve ever known what the best team is. We’ve changed things around, just always trying to get some sort of balance. Players coming in, for instance, in the first half, I thought Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was fantastic. Played really well. Still trying to get up to speed for the games. And I think the SPFL in many aspects has surprised him at the speed of the game, of what it can be.
Tomas Cvancara has another great chance . Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“But he was getting a bit tired. Or so I thought, anyway. But I thought his first-half performance was really terrific. Being able to come out of tight situations, being able to thread things through, I thought he did really well. In a sense, we have changed things around. And it is. We have a few players we feel are quite similar in many aspects.
“Getting back to your point, you have to know your best team. But we do change things around a bit. And sometimes it’s to do with the form of that particular player. During the course of that game.”
Q: That’s three points. Martin now separates the top three teams in the title race. One game to go before the split. Do you believe there’s now every chance this goes to the final day?
Martin O’Neill chatting to Steven Pressley. Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
Martin O’Neill: “I think if we had dropped points today, that would have been a long, long way back. I’m not saying it was finished, but it was a long way back. But given the fact that Hearts dropped a couple of points today, the games are difficult. They are, honestly. They’re really difficult. So we need to try and beat St Mirren next week so that you go into the split. I think we’ve got three at home and two away. But there’s no room for us. It seems as if there’s never been any room for us. But if we had dropped points today, I think that would have been a long way back for us.”
Q: Martin, seeing when you look at the run-in, you’ve got a lot of experience in that squad. You’ve got a lot of players that have been over the course before. How valuable and how pivotal can that be across the remaining six games?
Post match applause . Dundee v Celtic. Sunday 5 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, we do have a couple of players that are there. But we’ve actually got a couple of boys who haven’t been over the course. So I don’t know. I think the experience of them… You make an interesting point. Because this time last year, Celtic were cruising and have been cruising for a number of years. So this has been really tight for them.
“So this is kind of… Even though we’ve got some experience, it’s kind of a new experience for these lads to be chasing and chasing and chasing and being under pressure to get results all the time. So that is… But if you’re thinking about the likes of Callum and people here, yeah, I think that the younger lads would want them to be leaning on someone like him. That’s great.”
Watch Martin O’Neill’s post-match media conference at Dens Park below…
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