Celtic 1-0 St Mirren – “I thought we didn’t play very well,” Martin O’Neill

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The Celtic Star

·12. April 2026

Celtic 1-0 St Mirren – “I thought we didn’t play very well,” Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill was as concerned about the Celtic performance as he was delighted with the result…

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scores Celtic’s opening goal of the game during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

The Celtic manager knows that the team will have to play better in the remaining matches if they are to collect the two trophies that they are chasing. Here’s everything that Martin O’Neill had to say to the mainstream media after his side’s 1-0 victory over St Mirren yesterday afternoon…

Green Brigade back at Celtic Park after ban during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

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Q: Your view on the game?

Martin O’Neill: “I thought we didn’t play very well. I’ve just said in a couple of interviews, I suppose it’s worth repeating, I just thought that energy levels looked low, which I think is, if it had been the last, let’s say, ten minutes of the game, you’re holding on to something, I can understand that, but it set in pretty early in the second half, which was a bit of a concern. But we’ll try and rectify that if we can for next week. We need to. But just winning the game was really important, but we didn’t play well.”

Q: Do you think that’s due to nerves?

Martin O’Neill: “I think it’s maybe a combination of everything. You start to look then why that was the case, obviously maybe look at what we did this week and maybe change it a little bit around. One never knows. You’re not sure, but it seemed to befall a number of us at the same time, which is a bit of a worry.”

Liam Scales of Celtic challenges for a header during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: You got the win, you stay in the hunt?

Martin O’Neill: “Stay in the hunt, which is winning the game. In fairness to the players, they did dig it out at the end of the day, so it was good.St Mirren played very well, had control, good wee parts of the game, particularly in the second half. We just couldn’t get the elusive second goal, a wee bit like Dundee last week. But this time, where I think we created a number of chances at Dundee, we created much less today.”

Q: In terms of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, you brought him in to try and produce big moments and he got one again today?

Martin O’Neill: “He’s done it. He’s won two games, two games that may be important at the end, who knows. But you can see he’s got a bit of class about him. This lad has played for England at a time when England had a lot of great players, still have. It’s just the fitness element to him, regardless of training with Arsenal, which he had done for a couple of months. At the end of it all, you still have to play games. He’s getting fitter, which is great. I just thought he looked very tired.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scores Celtic’s opening goal during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

“Callum McGregor, he had a bit of a problem during the week but wanted to play. I’m delighted that he did and really didn’t feel any worse than before. I’m absolutely delighted that he got through as much as he did, so we need him. And a few others, but we stayed strong. We defended the corner kicks and free kicks, obviously, pretty well. But St Mirren played very well.”

Q: Are you confident that issue with Callum McGregor will now be over?

Martin O’Neill: “That would be great, yeah. I’ve got a habit of telling you on a Friday everything is rosy and then coming up and telling you a day later, well I’m not so sure. I think now a few days off for him, I think he’ll be ready. I think psychologically, playing the game today was big news for him. Not that we were saving anybody for a semi-final, not at all. That’s there, that’s in the next eight days or something. We weren’t saving anybody. He wanted to play, he wanted to start the game and he felt okay to start it. So that’s good and I don’t think he’s done any harm.”

Green Brigade back at Celtic Park after ban during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: I know you hoped for harmony in the stadium. How did it feel to you?

Martin O’Neill: “I thought the crowd were great to us today because they could easily have got irritated with some of the things that we did. I thought we were loose in possession at times and they could have done. They kept us going, a wee bit like Dundee last week, which I felt had a big effect on us staying in the game at a time just when Dundee had equalised. I really thought the crowd were great. If by the end of the season we can get a few things cleared up, rectified, call it what you want. But it felt like a proper Celtic Park atmosphere today.

Q: How pleased were you to get Arne Engels back?

Martin O’Neill: “That was good, that was really, really good. I thought he’d come on and I thought he did really well, really fine. Gave us a little bit of stability. Not that he was making lung bursting runs but he was just getting himself into it. So that was good considering he’s been out for so long.”

Q: How important is his physicality in the middle because he’s a big physical boy and he brings a lot in that sense?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I think that he is a strong lad. You can see why teams are interested in signing him. Particularly the offer from Nottingham Forest just at the end of the transfer window. So he’s got a lot to offer and he’s got plenty to look forward to I think as well. Certainly internationally as well, trying to break into a very strong Belgium side. But overall I’m just delighted to see him back.”

Watch Martin O’Neill’s post match Media Conference below. A reminder that despite the ban on the Green Brigade being lifted the disgraceful ban on The Celtic Star and other fan media outlets continues….

Don’t miss Sandman’s Definitive Ratings up now on The Celtic Star!

Celtic celebrate scoring the opening goal of the game through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

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