Wilfried Nancy knew size of Celtic task after what Martin O'Neill did - 'I would have done the same'

The Parkhead side are now in 24th place out of 36 teams in the Europa League standings. They are just inside the qualification zone with two games remaining.

It has been a challenging start for Nancy and won’t get any easier with St Mirren smelling blood ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final at Hampden.

“C’mon guys, I just came in one week ago,” protested Nancy, reasonably, after he was asked whether the job was a bigger one than he had anticipated. “I expected it,” he added.

He explained that the players are tired after a busy spell under interim manager Martin O’Neill, whose brief had been to ensure the side got back to winning ways. The 73-year-old wasn’t in the position to consider resting players. Nancy accepted this.

“A few players were playing six, seven games in a row,” he said. “There were some injuries. We had big games coming. So yes, I knew the situation. That is why I need to be positive and there are a lot of reasons I can be positive. But tonight was a tough night. That is the reality. Now the idea is to rest for the next two days (before the final).”

He stressed he was attaching no blame on O’Neill and Shaun Maloney for sticking with the same core of players during their eight-match spell in charge. He would have taken the same approach.

“Hear me well,” he said. “I don’t talk about the previous guys Martin or Shaun. They did what they had to do with many players playing many games in a row. This is the situation and I would have done the same thing too.

“I don’t like to hide behind anything but I also like facts, and we have a lot of injured players too. I knew all of this before but I am confident.

“I accepted the challenge. I could have said no and that I wanted to come a little bit later. But the reality is the reality. I knew that we had big games coming and knew also that it could be difficult.

“But the belief I have for my players is really high. The way we work, even though we haven’t worked a lot, is really high.”

He was asked if, with hindsight, he would have played the same formation and players. Trailing by three goals at half time, Nancy made three substitutions at the interval. Left centre-half Kieran Tierney was among those who departed. The manager claimed it was always the intention to make such sweeping early changes because of this weekend’s final. “After that, we didn't play the same system offensively,” he said, with Kelechi Iheanacho also coming on for Daizen Maeda. Iheanacho, who was making his first appearance since October, had a goal chopped off for offside and looked lively. He could well come into contention for the cup final.

“The second half was a bit better,” said Nancy. “We were able to get closer to each other to accept a bit of pressure and after that we had a few good actions, we were based in their half a bit more.”

Nancy will be aware there needs to be a swift uplift in fortunes. He already holds the status of first Celtic manager to lose his first two matches in charge. The Frenchman said he can already feel a bond between him and the players, which gives him hope for the future.

“The connection I have with them is already there," he said. "They understand what we have to do. But tonight was difficult.

“I am still confident in my players. We have had four days. That is not an excuse, it’s a fact. I will show the players where we need to improve. Yes, the opposition was strong tonight but I don’t think we did certain things well enough. They did it at times but not enough.”

He admitted there had been softness about the team in the opening 45 minutes. “In the first half we were too soft at certain moments. We have to be strong and also believe a little bit more individually.

“It is not a case of being too big or small,” he added. “I just think that sometimes we have to use our body more. Our body position could have been better in certain moments. Sometimes, instead of being on the half-turn we also had our backs to goal. And we could have been better man-to-man individually and accept the pressure. But we didn’t do that at certain moments in the first half.”